Mainstream parties condemn arrest of Mohammad Zubair

SRINAGAR: : Mainstream parties have deplored the arrest of Mohammad Zubair, the co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News, by the Delhi police on Monday.

The leaders termed it as the “muzzling of freedom of the press that began from J&K soon after revocation of Article 370 with the detention of many Kashmiri journalists on frivolous charges and now same has spread across the country”.

Former J&K chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti mocked the Delhi police for arresting the founder of Alt news. “On the freedom of expression during the G7 conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi endorsed that by signing it. And on the same day, Zubair was arrested who used to bring real news to the public. It all began in Kashmir and the journalists who speak truth were booked under the UAPA and the PSA. Now, this is being adopted everywhere. There is no case against Zubair. He has been arrested for tweeting a scene of a picture in 2018,” Mehbooba said.

She said the foundation of the country is laid on democracy and secularism. “Today it looks under the BJP rule nobody can express their ideas. Teesta Setalvad who spoke the truth has been jailed. Zakia Jafri is being blamed for conspiracy against the country. Currently, we are passing through the worst times in our country,” she said.

CPI (M) general secretary Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami said “the Modi-led BJP government uses strong-arm tactics to muzzle the voice of those who expose their false propaganda and hate speech”.

“Zubair had been playing a crucial role in debunking the fake news and misspeak since he founded the Alt News. It is very unfortunate that journalists like Zubair, who highlight the truth and hold a mirror to the government are being witch-hunted and booked under flimsy charges while the hatemongers are roaming freely,” said Tarigami, who is also spokesperson of fiveparty alliance PAGD.

“The Central dispensation wanted to create a smokescreen by peddling lies and misinformation merely to hide its failure on a host of counts, including political and economic,” he added.