Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair posted his first tweet after being granted bail by the Supreme Court. Several cases were registered in UP for allegedly hurting religious sentiments against Zubair. After which the police arrested him. After being in jail for nearly 24 days, Zubair was released on July 20. In the tweet, Zubair has also thanked his well-wishers for supporting him.
Zubair begins his tweet with a poem by Urdu legend Rahat Indori, “Jo aaj sahib-e-masnand hai kal nahi hoge!” Which roughly means that those in power today will not be there tomorrow. After this he wrote, “Thank you everyone, I am humbled and grateful for the amazing support I’ve received in the past one month from well wishers in India and from across the world. Your support gave a lot of strength to me & my family.”
Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police on June 27 for hurting religious sentiments through a tweet in 2018 against a Hindu deity. Zubair was kept in police and judicial custody after half a dozen FIRs were registered in different parts of Uttar Pradesh for posting tweets hurting religious sentiments.
The UP Police had constituted a special investigation team to probe the allegations. A total of seven FIRs have been registered against Mohammed Zubair in Uttar Pradesh, including two in Hathras and one each at Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad and Chandauli police stations.
Supreme Court made sharp remarks
While granting bail, the Supreme Court had observed that arrest should not be used as a punitive weapon but criminal justice machinery was repeatedly used against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair. The Supreme Court has refused to accept the Uttar Pradesh government’s plea to restrain Zubair from tweeting while he is out on bail, saying the restraining order discourages freedom of expression.