New DelhiPeople’s Democratic Party President and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti condemned the arrest of journalist Mohammad Zubair, co-founder and fact-checking website Alt News, and cursed the BJP-led central government. “I strongly condemn the arrest of Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair by Delhi Police,” she said. Criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mehbooba said, “On one hand PM Modi signed the G7 declaration to protect freedom of expression and back in India, his government arrested AltNews co-founder Mohammad Zubair, The one who brought the real news, who exposed Nupur. Sharma.”
He further said, “It all started in the Kashmir Valley after 2019, when the BJP and its government started harassing journalists who did real stories and not propaganda. A case was registered under
Cursing the BJP, he said, “India is a democratic country, but the BJP is doing the exact opposite of the democratic system which is very dangerous for the country.”
“India started acting like China and ended freedom of expression and strangled journalists who raised their voices,” he said.
Mehbooba concluded by saying that the time has come for the civil society here to stand against all odds and oppose the full force of freedom of expression, adding that this is the only way we can make our democratic can protect the structure.