New Delhi Police, Indiaarrested a Muslim journalist named Mohammed Zubair for allegedly insulting the faith Hindu.
Deputy Commissioner of Delhi’s Cybercrime Unit KPS Malhotra said the journalist, who is the founder of fact-checking website Alt News, was arrested on Monday (6/27). He was detained one night.
Malhotra disclosed that Zubair was arrested for violating two articles of the Indian Penal Code which govern religious harmony.
CNN reported, this arrest is related to the alleged blasphemy of religion case that was led by Zubair on Twitter in 2018. In this tweet, Zubair linked the naming of one of the hotels to a Hindu god.
Zubair was questioned in 2020. But after that, Zubair received protection from arrest from Delhi High Court.
The party who lodged the complaint considered that the authorities had failed to carry out the investigation procedure.
Zubair’s attorney, Kawalpreet Kaur, said his client was later called back to investigate the matter.
During the interrogation process, the police detained Zubair in another case.
Meanwhile, Malhotra did not respond to questions. CNN related to Zubair’s arrest process.
[Gambas:Video CNN]
Zubair himself has often channeled criticism from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata (BJP) party.
He also accused the BJP of using colonial-era laws to suppress any form of criticism and support personal censorship.
In some of Zubair’s latest posts, he claims that Hindu extremists are calling for hate speech against Islam.
On the other hand, Zubair’s arrest has also drawn the ire of politicians, journalists and media. The Committee to Protect Journalists urges the Indian authorities to release Zubair immediately and unconditionally.
Meanwhile, an opposition Congress Party MP, Shashi Tharoor, called the arrests a “violation of the truth”.
(pwn/a)
[Gambas:Video CNN]
