New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Tuesday termed as "extremely disturbing" the arrest of AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair on charges of hurting religious sentiments, and demanded his immediate release. "It is apparent that AltNews' alert vigilance was resented by those who use disinformation as a tool to polarise society and rake nationalist sentiments," the Guild said in a statement.
Zubair, who was arrested on Monday by the Delhi Police for allegedly hurting religious sentiments, was sent to one-day police custody on Tuesday by Delhi's Patiala House Court. A case was earlier registered under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language, etc) and 295A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code against Zubair, said K P S Malhotra, DCP (Cyber Crime).
"Counsel for Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair had moved bail application which was declined by the court on grounds of "not finding merits." Delhi Police's application for 1-day police remand was granted by the court," said Delhi Police officials. He was called for questioning during the day on Monday and was arrested in the evening.
“In a bizarre turn of events, Zubair was called in for questioning by the special cell of Delhi Police in a case from 2020, for which he already had protection against arrest from the Delhi High Court. However, when Zubair responded to the summons, he was arrested in relation to a criminal investigation initiated earlier in the month, after an anonymous Twitter handle alleged that Zubair’s 2018 post was hurting religious sentiments,” the EGI statement reads.
It added that Alt-News has done some great work in identifying fake news. The statement is signed by EGI president Seema Mustafa, general secretary Sanjay Kapoor and treasurer Anant Nath. “In fact, it was an exposure of toxic remarks of a ruling party spokesperson on a TV channel that allowed the party to make amends,” the statement reads. This refers to Zubair’s previous tweets that led BJP to remove Nupur Sharma as a spokesperson for her alleged remarks against the Prophet.
The EGI demanded that Delhi Police immediately release Zubair because it would be “necessary to buttress the commitments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the G-7 meet in Germany to ensure a resilient democracy by protecting online and offline content”. The Press Club of India also condemned the arrest of Zubair. In a statement issued Tuesday, PCI said: “It is ironic that Mohammed Zubair’s arrest by the Delhi Police came on a day when India joined G7 and four other countries to protect free speech ‘online and offline.’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the G7 meet in Germany where the signatories also committed to protect freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief and promoting inter-faith dialogue.”
“Are the Union Home Ministry and Delhi Police not on the same page with the Prime Minister on the commitment to freedom of expression?” it added. Meanwhile, TMC Supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also reacted to the arrest. "No action is taken against those who spread hatred and violence," she said. During his appearance in the court of the duty magistrate during the night, advocates Soutik Banerjee and Kanwalpreet Kaur, appearing for Zubair, filed a bail application. The court allowed Zubair to talk to his lawyer for half an hour during his police custody. The duty magistrate directed the Delhi Police to produce Zubair on June 28 before the magistrate.
Zubair had reportedly posted a picture in a tweet where the signboard of a hotel 'Honeymoon hotel ' was changed to 'Hanuman hotel'. "The said post of Mohammed Zubair containing pictures and words against a particular religious community is highly provocative and done deliberately which are more than sufficient to incite hatred among people which can be detrimental for maintenance of public tranquillity," said Delhi Police.
Pratik Sinha, another co-founder at Alt News tweeted on Monday, "Zubair was called today by special cell, Delhi for investigation in a 2020 case for which he already had protection against arrest from High Court. However, today at around 6.45 pm we were told he has been arrested in some other FIR for which no notice was given which is mandatory under law for the Sections under which he has been arrested. Nor FIR copy is being given to us despite repeated requests."
In another tweet, Pratik Sinha questioned the intentions of the Delhi Police. He wrote, "I wonder why is the Delhi police in such tearing hurry to bring Zubair all the way from Dwarka to the residence of a duty magistrate in Burari this hour? Why not just produce him before the regular court tomorrow before the 24 hours end that is not till tomorrow afternoon?"
Also read: Allahabad HC refuses to quash FIR against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair
Zubair's arrest kicked up a political storm with the Opposition accusing the BJP-led Government at the Centre of the issue. Taking to Twitter Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that BJP considers those who expose its "hate, bigotry and lies" as a threat. "Every person exposing BJP's hate, bigotry, and lies is a threat to them. Arresting one voice of truth will only give rise to a thousand more. The truth ALWAYS triumphs over tyranny. #DaroMat," tweeted Rahul.
Stating that Alt News provides a "vital service" in terms of fact-checking, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor demanded his immediate release."India’s few fact-checking services, especially @AltNews, perform a vital service in our post-truth political environment, rife with disinformation. They debunk falsehoods to whoever perpetrates them. To arrest @zoo_bear is an assault on truth. He should be released immediately" he tweeted.
Lashing out at Delhi Police over the arrest, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted "Altnews & @zoo_bear have been in the forefront of exposing the bogus claims of the Vishguru, who has struck back with a vengeance characteristic of him. Delhi Police, reporting to the Union Home Minister, has long lost any pretensions of professionalism and independence."
"Strongly condemn the arrest of one of the world’s finest journalists @zoo_bear who exposes the BJP’s #FakeNews factory every single day. PM @narendramodi and @AmitShah for all power you wield, you are essentially COWARDS," tweeted TMC MP Derek O'Brien.
Describing Zubair's arrest as "highly condemnable", AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that he has been arrested without any notice and on the basis of an unknown FIR. "Arrest of @zoo_bear is highly condemnable. He’s been arrested with no notice & in some unknown FIR. Total violation of due process. @DelhiPolice does nothing about anti-Muslim genocidal slogans but acts swiftly against the “crime” of reporting hate speech & countering misinformation.
Meanwhile, BJP general secretary C T Ravi hit back at Rahul Gandhi for his double standards. He tweeted, "This Incompetent Dynast did not protest the arrest of a Marathi Actress for a simple Facebook post by the Fascist MVA Government in Maharashtra. He kept his mouth shut when women & children were raped in Rajasthan. But he is shedding tears for a Jihadi who incited violence!"
