A large amount of support has been pouring in for Alt News Co-founder and journalist Mohammad Zubair after he faced backlash from Hindu extremists for exposing and slamming the now suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson, Nupur Sharma over her controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad.
On May 27, Zubair tweeted a clipping from a discussion hosted by Times Now Group Editor Navika Kumar where BJP functionary Nupur Sharma was seen hurling derogatory remarks on Prophet Mohammad. Zubair’s tweet was against it which was quickly picked up by many on Twitter.
This was followed by a backlash from right-wingers who also demanded the arrest of the journalist.
Soon after that, India received heavy condemnation from Islamic countries. The Narendra Modi-led government was quick to react and suspended Nupur Sharma along with Naveen Kumar Jindal.
This Prophet remark soon snowballed into a country-wide protest in many areas, including violence being reported in Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. Two young Muslim men lost their lives in the process.
Zubair had also tagged Managing Director of Times Group Vineet Jain questioning him about the way his channel’s news anchors conduct debates. He also mentioned right-winged Hindutva leaders such as Yati Narasinghanand Saraswati, Mahant Bajrang Muni and Anand Swaroop as ‘hatemongers’.
On June 3, an FIR was lodged against Zubair at the Khairabad police station in Uttar Pradesh for using the word “hatemonger” while addressing the Hindutva leaders.
The complaint was registered by a Rashtriya Hindu Sher Sena member, Bhagwan Shara.
Since then, Zubair has received enormous support from Twitter with #IStandWithZubair started trending. Some of them are as follows:
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Veena Nair | 
