Will give fitting reply to false cases against me through legal battle, not afraid of arrest: Zubair
AltNews Co-founder Mohammed Zubair speaks to Vartha Bharati
Bengaluru: AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair who was recently released on bail by the Supreme Court after being arrested by Delhi Police in connection with one of his tweets from 2018, in an interview with Vartha Bharati Zubair spoke about the government’s attack on fair and free journalism.
During the interview, Zubair accused the current establishment of having organized involvement in the spreading of fake news and how it takes political advantage and turns a blind eye to those involved in it. He also added that he would give a befitting reply to the false cases registered against him by fighting the legal battle asserting that he has complete faith in the judiciary of the country.
Below are the excerpts from Mohammed Zubair’s interview with Vartha Bharati:
VB: What do you feel about the case in which you were arrested?
Zubair: The case registered against me is not serious in nature. The background of the complainant is also not clear. I feel the case was only registered against me so that I can be arrested.
VB: Were you questioned or had faced any inquiry before being arrested in this case regarding a tweet?
Zubair: Four years ago in 2018 they registered a case against me over something small that I posted on social media. After that I was taken into police custody now, without any inquiry regarding the case. It was clear oppression.
VB: How many cases have been registered against you so far?
Zubair: Some of the organisations backed by Sangh Parivar have always been targeting me. Currently, multiple cases have been filed against me in Uttar Pradesh. From what I know, four cases have been registered against me in UP, two in New Delhi, and one in Madhya Pradesh.
VB: Do you feel now we cannot restrict spreaders of fake news?
Zubair: Some of the parties have been taking political advantage using fake news. Hence, you don’t see legal action against those who spread fake news. But those who raise voices against this, are threatened and silenced by jailing them.
VB: There are serious charges on deposits into your bank account. What do you have to say about that?
Zubair: It is actually not my personal account. It is our company’s bank account. The money paid by the subscribers was deposited once. There’s nothing unusual about it, but some people have spread rumors that I have received money from foreign countries.
VB: What are your views on false cases?
Zubair: To the false cases registered against me, I will fight a legal battle and give it a fitting reply. There are reports that the police were under pressure to file cases against me even when they didn’t have anything to press charges against me.
VB: What would your message to the government be for allegedly targeting and arresting you?
Zubair: Instead of taking action against those spreading fake news, triggering communal riots, and threatening law and order the government and police have largely remained silent on it. I would ask the government if I am wrong in exposing these elements when they are silent.
VB: Do you fear getting arrested?
Zubair: I am not afraid of the system because I am fighting for the truth. I respect the Constitution of this country and I have complete faith in the judiciary.
VB: Do you think there is a conspiracy to silence journalists who speak the truth by arresting them?
Zubair: The central government and Sangh Parivar-backed organizations target those who question and raise their voice against their ideologies and lies. They harass them by targeting them individually. But you don’t have to be afraid about it. If you are fighting for the truth, and if you are confident about it, nobody can harm you.
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Sheikh Hasina should be allowed to stay in India as long as she wants: Mani Shankar Aiyar
Kolkata (PTI): Former career diplomat, ex-union minister and Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said that deposed Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina should be allowed to stay in India as long as she wants.
Expressing happiness that Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri went to Dhaka last month and held discussions with the authorities there, Aiyar told PTI on the sidelines of the 16th Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival that the talks should be continuous and New Delhi needs to establish ministerial contacts with the interim government of Bangladesh.
About demands by Bangladesh to extradite Hasina, he said, "I hope we will never disagree that Sheikh Hasina has done a lot of good for us. I am glad she was given refuge. I think we should be her host as long as she wants, even if it is for all her life."
Hasina, 77, has been living in India since August 5 when she fled Bangladesh following a massive student-led protest that toppled her 16-year regime.
The Congress leader said that it is true that minority Hindus in Bangladesh are being attacked, but mostly it is because they are supporters of Hasina.
“They (reports about attacks on Hindus) are true but exaggerated because many of the conflicts are more about settlement of political differences," he said on Saturday.
Earlier during a question hour session, Aiyar said that Pakistanis are much like Indians, but only the accident of partition made them a different country.
“There exists much more difference in me as a Tamil and my wife as a Punjabi, than between her and a Pakistani Punjabi,” he said.
Taking a jibe at the Narendra Modi regime, the Congress leader claimed, “We have the courage to undertake surgical strike but this government does not have the courage to sit across the table with them."
Pakistan is a country which "spreads terror but it is also a victim of terror', Aiyar said.
"They (Pakistan) thought they could bring Taliban to power in Afghanistan, (but) today their single biggest threat is the Taliban in Afghanistan," he said.
In a compliment to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Aiyar said his single biggest achievement was to ensure that India talked to Pakistan on the back channel on what Gen Musharraf called the four-point agreement on Kashmir.
Singh also showed that it is possible to talk business with a military government, he said.
"It is suicidal for us to continue wearing Pakistan around our neck like the albatross. We should just talk to them as Manmohan Singh showed on the issue of Kashmir,” he said.
Aiyar took part in a discussion on his recent book where he touched on issues like his relation with the Gandhi family, his tryst with the Congress party, his stint in the days at Cambridge and his commentary on the present situation in the country.
