Opposition parties reacted sharply to the arrest of Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair, calling out the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre for its hypocrisy since the arrest came on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed the “2022 Resilient Democracies Statement” at the G7 summit, committing to “protect freedom of expression and opinion online and offline”.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that Mr. Zubair had been arrested for exposing the BJP’s hate, bigotry and lies. Mr. Gandhi tweeted: “Arresting one voice of truth will only give rise to a thousand more. The truth ALWAYS triumphs over tyranny.” At a press conference on Tuesday, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said that while perpetrators of hate were receiving political patronage, those who reported such hate were being jailed.
Going a step further, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi said that there was a threat to Mr. Zubair’s life since the Delhi Police was not following established procedures.
