All days are not lucky for an offender, some days karma gives a call and settles the account once and for all. Self proclaimed fact checker, Alt News’ Muhammad Zubair is in hot waters these days. A case has been filed against him for trying to incite violence by posting an old video clip with factually incorrect claims.
According to the FIR, the complainant Udita Tyagi, General Secretary of the Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati Trust, stated that Zubair intentionally posted an old video on October 3 to incite violence against Yati Narasimhananda.
During the hearing for the same, the Allahabad High Court orally reprimanded Zubair for posting the matter on X and not reaching out to police, a move that court stressed was as an attempt to create unrest.
The division bench of Justices Siddharth Varma and Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra orally remarked, “If this person (referring to Yati Narsinhanand) is acting funny, then instead of going to the police, will you act more funny? Have you lodged an FIR against him? I will look at your conduct. If you don’t like his (Yati) speech, face, you should file an FIR against him.”
On the bench’s remarks, Zubair’s lawyer tried to shield him behind the freedom of expression but the bench rebuked him again.
Justice Varma said, “Come to the court then…you will go to social media handle… create social disharmony?…Whatever he (Yati) says, you cannot go to social media…Who denies that Twitter cannot be used, but you cannot use it to instigate unrest.. glancing at the tweet shows that you are trying to create unrest.”
Meanwhile, the AAG also countered the right to freedom of speech argument, raised by Zubair’s counsel. He said that the right to freedom of speech is not absolute and can be curtailed under Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India.
Emphasising the intent of Zubair, he added that it is apparent that there was a close connection between Zubair’s X post (tweet) and the lawless action of the public, as mentioned in the FIR. He also added that the clip cutter, Zubair, peddled the distorted speech through his post.
Brief on the notoriety of Alt News Co-founder Md Zubair
This must be noted that Zubair is notorious for posting cropped video, ant-hindu posts on his social media and for whitewashing the deeds of Islamists. He has been involved in trying to unleash violence to serve his hateful ideology against Hindus. His tweets have often been found peddling fake claims.
Whitewashing the actions of Islamists and inciting a mob by falsely accusing someone of blasphemy are some of the longstanding tactics attributed to Zubair.
In the case of former BJP leader Nupur Sharma, Zubair was behind the sharing of cropped videos which led to contrived outrage by Islamist mobs and the Arab world. While Sharma’s speech went viral after Zubair’s post, he deliberately excluded Tasleem Rahmani’s provocative remarks against Hindu gods which triggered a response from the BJP leader.
His notoriety is not just limited to dog whistling against Nupur Sharma. Since the ouster of Hasina’s government, Zubair has been trying to whitewash the Islamist atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh.
In one such incident in August, Zubair posted a video of Bangladeshi Muslims forming a chain to allegedly protect Hindu temples. This followed several other similar posts. His captions clearly reflected his motive to downplay the communal violence against Hindus. Meanwhile, no clip of atrocities against Hindus was posted on his timeline. His one sided efforts raise serious questions about his fact checking agenda.
Similarly, regarding war in Israel, he has been on a crusade to online target those favouring Israel. In one such incident, US-based investigative journalist Amy Mek had earlier highlighted the Alt News cofounder launched a smear campaign against her for exposing the propaganda of terrorist organization Hamas. She also pointed out the disinformation pursuit of Zubair in Nupur Sharma’s case.
Nevertheless, the list of such mischievous acts of this disinformation portal operative is long enough.
Md Zubair: A repeat offender
Earlier, on 28th November, the UP Police informed Allahabad HC that Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), which pertains to acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India, has been added to the FIR against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair. This stringent section allows for punishment up to life imprisonment for acts threatening India’s integrity.
However, this isn’t the first time an FIR has been launched against him.
In July, 2022, Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair was taken to Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, following an FIR accusing him of using derogatory language on Twitter against Hindu religious leaders Mahant Bajrang Muni, Yati Narsinghanand, and Swami Anand Swaroop. The FIR was lodged under IPC Section 295(A) and IT Act Section 67. A charge sheet was filed after which Zubair was produced in court.
On June, 2022, Delhi Police arrested Mohammed Zubair for promoting enmity between communities and outraging religious sentiments through his 2018 tweet. The case was filed at the Special Cell police station. Incidentally, on March 24, 2018, Zubair posted a tweet which said “Before 2014: Honeymoon Hotel. After 2014: Hanuman Hotel,” accompanied by an image of a hotel signboard showing the establishment’s name change. The FIR invoked IPC Sections 153A and 295A.
In 2022, two back to back cases were filed against Zubair both coming from Hathras. The first case was filed on 4th of July at the Kotwali police station, accusing Zubair of defaming Hindu deities and Hinduism on his social media platforms. He was charged under sections 153A, 295A, 298, and section 67 of the Information Technology Act. The FIR mentioned that Zubair was involved in mocking Hindu deities online.
The second FIR was filed against him related to riots in Purdil Nagar on June 10, following Jummah Namaz (Friday prayers). Zubair was accused of inciting the riots and faced charges under sections 153A, 353, 188, and 120B.
A Muzaffarnagar resident in July, 2021 accused the Alt News co-founder of threatening his life, leading to the registration of an FIR. The case was filed under sections 504, 506, and 192 of the IPC.
When the complainant, Ankur Rana, contacted Zubair to discuss the issue, Zubair allegedly abused him and threatened to murder him if he got involved. Rana then approached the police, which led to the FIR being filed against Zubair.
In June 2021, Zubair along with others were accused of inciting disharmony between the communities in the society for their reporting on the assault of a Muslim man in Loni and giving it a communal angle. They were booked under Sections 153, 153A, 295A, 505, 120B and 34 of the IPC. DSP and Circle Officer of Loni, Atul Kumar Sonker upon the incident stated, “He was not coerced into chanting Jai Shri Ram. Since the accused belong to both communities, the possibility of a communal angle is unlikely.”
In 2020, Zubair faced legal consequences over a tweet he posted in 2020 involving a minor. The incident began when Zubair engaged in an online spat with a Twitter user, @JSINGH2252, and shared the user’s display picture, which featured a girl child, possibly his granddaughter.
Zubair blurred the child’s image and tweeted, “Hello Jagdish Singh, Does your cute granddaughter know about your part-time job of abusing people on social media?”
Following a complaint from the Forum for Indigenous Rights-North-East India, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) took cognizance of the matter, urging the Delhi Police to take “lawful action” for the “stalking of a minor girl on Twitter.”
In response, two FIRs were filed against Zubair by the Delhi Police Cyber Cell and Raipur Police. The charges included sections of the IT Act, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and the IPC, specifically Section 509 B, dealing with sexual harassment by electronic means.
While the alleged fact-checker has enjoyed a free pass for his misdeed for far too long, this time he is cornered like a cat and the justice to those who have been the victims of his hate campaigns would likely get justice in the near future.
