In a first-of-its-kind move, the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has filed an FIR against Twitter and eight others in connection with a video of a Muslim man being thrashed and propelling fake news using the video on social media.

The FIR names Alt News co-founder Muhammed Zubair who was the first one to June 16, 2021 the muted video of the incident later falsely claiming that the victim was made to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ while being thrashed. 

Fanning the fake narrative initiated by the self-proclaimed ‘fact-checkers’, journalists and leftist personalities such as Rana Ayyub, Saba Naqvi and Congress leaders like Salman Nizami and Maskoor Usmani furthered the propaganda. All the aforementioned along with the leftist media portal The Wire, have been named in the FIR. 

However, Bollywood entertainer Swara Bhasker who has not been named in the FIR has been deflecting her role in spreading this fake news. Now claiming that she is a Hindu, Bhasker as usual demands every Hindu to feel ashamed as the prime accused allegedly belongs to a Gujjar community, whitewashing the crimes of others involved.

Using an utterly derogatory language, Bhasker continued to further her claims. “RW & Sanghis vomiting on my timeline ‘coz Ghaziabad police named 3 Muslims. Jackasses the prime accused is literally a Pravesh Gujjar. The man is on camera forcing the old man to chant #JaiShriRam Yes it is a desecration of my God and my religion and I’m ashamed.. as shud you be,” she said in a Tweet.

Swara claimed that she can hear the alleged accused ‘forcing’ the old man to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in a video where the audio was muted.

It is imperative to note that still, no video has emerged with audio where the perpetrators can be heard forcing the victim to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram.’

The netizens, however, demand strict action against Bhasker for not only propagating false news, defaming the Hindu religious slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’ but also concealing the crimes of the accused from the Muslim community, falsely giving communal colours to a petty crime. 

Netizens demand action

Indian filmmaker Ashoke Pandit tagging the UP Police has demanded strict action against Bhasker for inciting communal violence.

A Twitter handle by the name Amit Singh sharing a copy of the Ghaziabad police statement has demanded Bhasker’s arrest.

Another netizen by the name Rupa Murthy mocked Swara saying that she has special powers, first she read NRC draft which did not exist at that time and now she can listen from a mute video where lip reading is not an option. Raising a valid point she mentioned, “where did she (Swara Bhasker) hear Jai Shri Ram in muted video?”

Sumesh, a Twitter handle has tagged Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath to bring to his notice that the entertainer is still promulgating the fake news.

Another user remarked that Freedom of Speech can be misused for furthering a personal propaganda.

Mohammed Zubair of Alt News deletes the video

Meanwhile, after being slapped with an FIR for spreading fake news to incite communal hatred, Zubair took to Twitter to announce that he has deleted the video pertaining to the incident as the ‘facts didn’t add up’.

Uttar Pradesh CM taking cognizance of the matter had responded sharply to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s attempt to be a party to spreading the lie.