On June 27, Indian journalist and co-founder of fact-checking website AltNews, Mohammed Zubair, was arrested by Indian police over a tweet he put out in 2018. Zubair was accused of insulting Hindu religious beliefs on Twitter by the now-defunct Twitter account @balajikijaiin. According to the police, the tweet featured an image of a hotel with its “Honeymoon Hotel” signboard repainted to “Hanuman Hotel.” Hanuman is the revered Hindu god of courage, devotion, strength and wisdom, and the divine companion of the god Rama.
Zubair remained in police custody for four days while authorities sought access to his electronic devices, including his laptop and mobile phone, as part of the ongoing investigation. He has been arrested under Sections 153A and 295A of the Indian Penal Code, which respectively deal with promoting enmity, and engaging in deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious sensitivities. On July 2, he was officially denied bail and sent to custody for 14 days.
Earlier in June, Zubair had criticized Nupur Sharma, the national spokesperson of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the leader. Sharma had made derogatory comments about Islam’s Prophet Mohammed, resulting in a diplomatic row between India and 15 Muslim-majority nations. Sharma’s comments were termed “Islamophobic,” resulting in her suspension from the party.

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