Top Indian fact-checker in court for post calling out hate speech

BBC:

More than two years after the Supreme Court granted bail and ordered “immediate release” of Mohammed Zubair from prison, the leading Indian fact-checker and journalist is once again back in court.

On Tuesday, the Allahabad high court is due to hear his petition in a fresh case as police in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh seek his arrest, accusing him of “endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”.

The charge is non-bailable and a conviction could mean a minimum of seven years in jail and fine or even life imprisonment.

Zubair, who’s a co-founder of the fact-checking website called AltNews, denies all the accusations against him. “I feel I’m being targeted because of the work I do,” he told the BBC.

Described by some as “a thorn in the side for the government because he’s single-handedly taking on hate crimes”, Zubair is wanted in connection with a post he put out on X spotlighting hate speech by a controversial Hindu priest.

Shared on 3 October, the post included a video that showed Yati Narsinghanand delivering comments against Prophet Muhammad that many Muslims found hurtful.

The 60-year-old priest is the head of the powerful Dasna Devi temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad town and has been repeatedly in the news for openly calling for violence against Muslims. In 2022, he was arrested for making Islamophobic and misogynistic comments and spent a month in jail.

A day after Zubair’s post pointed out his latest offensive comments, Muslims protested outside the temple. Police said 10 people were arrested for allegedly pelting stones during the protest, PTI reported.

Several Muslim groups lodged police complaints against Narsinghanand and the priest disappeared from public view amid reports that he had been arrested. Police, however, denied that.