Targeted for my name, faith: Mohammed Zubair tells court

A court on Tuesday extended by four days the custodial interrogation of Alt News cofounder Mohammed Zubair arrested in a case related to an ldquoobjectionable tweetrdquo on a Hindu deity he posted in 2018 The Delhi police in court claimed his ldquoobjectionable tweet of 2018 led to a Twitter storm with hate speeches detrimental to communal harmonyrdquoArguing against his custody the factcheckerrsquos lawyer told the court that many social media users had tweeted the same post but only he was targeted by police The difference his counsel said was his faith name and professionDelhi police arrested Zubair on Monday and booked him under Sections 153A promoting enmity between religious groups and 295 injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class of the IPC On Section 153A his advocate Vrinda Grover argued on his behalf ldquoThe entire case borders on absurdity Police say they were alerted to this tweet but this tweet is dated March 2018 Section 153 A needs two communities which are the two communities here This clip is from a 1983 movie that was cleared by the censor boardrdquo as per an NDTV reportDelhi cops take Muhammad Zubair to court on Tuesday PicPTIThe Indian Express quoted her as saying ldquoThis image shown as a reason for arresting someone comes from a Hindi cinema image This is an image of a Rishikesh Mukherjee film Not a place of worship This is a joke on the honeymooners Where is the damage Prima facie where is the case Yes I am journalist have a Twitter following and speak my mind in an independent country See the anonymous Twitter handle That opens only in 2021 He says this is offensive to Hindus The entire case borders on absurdityrdquoThe police action came weeks after he flagged former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharmarsquos derogatory remarks on Prophet Muhammad as per an a Hindustan Times report Condemning the action against Zubair activists and Opposition leaders said it was ldquoabsolute hypocrisyrdquo of the government that his arrest came on a day India committed at the G7 Summit to defend democratic principles and protect the freedom of expressionThe Editors Guild of India demanded his immediate release ldquoThis is extremely disturbing because Zubair and his website AltNews have done some exemplary work over the past few years in identifying fake news and countering disinformation campaigns in a very objective and factual mannerrdquo it said in a statementAakar Patel chair of board Amnesty International India said ldquoThe fact that he was not provided a copy of the First Information Report FIR and was detained incommunicado during the initial hours following his arrest shows just how brazen the Indian authorities have becomerdquolsquoCondemnablersquoD Raja CPI leaderHatemongers of the right are getting patronage from rulers Socalled fringe elements who brought disrepute to the country are being protected Young journalists like Zubair who are working to protect the scientific temper of the country are behind bars CondemnableEditors GuildDelhi police should immediately release Zubair This is necessary to buttress the commitments made by PM Modi in the G7 meet in Germany to ensure a resilient democracy by protecting online and offline contentAakar Patel chair of board Amnesty International IndiaMohammed Zubairrsquos arrest shows the danger facing human rights defenders in India has reached a crisis point Harassment intimidation unlawful and arbitrary arrests and imprisonment of human rights defenders for tirelessly seeking truth and justice has become alarmingly commonplace in India4 DaysDuration of Zubairrsquos custody for interrogation2018Year the tweet in question was posted