Venkatesh Prasad, a former Indian cricketer and currently a coach, came down heavy on the self-styled self-proclaimed ‘fact-checker’ Mohammed Zubair of Alt News, for twisting his tweet out of context and politicizing it.
“It takes one corrupt, arrogant guy to take away the hard work of an organisation that is generally non-corrupt and get a stamp of corruption on the whole leadership, not just on a micro level but at a large level.“, read Prasad’s deleted tweet.
However, Mohammed Zubair stated that Prasad deleted his tweet while sharing screenshots of other tweets in which it was alleged that Prasad was hinting at Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Jay Shah (Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s son).
Tweet deleted by Venkatesh Prasad. pic.twitter.com/FQ8odYYaYu
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) September 9, 2023
With Venkatesh Prasad’s tweet gaining traction, the former cricketer who had deleted the tweet lashed out at the Alt News co-founder for masquerading as a fact-checker while being a ‘serial hate-monger’. Prasad also accused Zubair of putting lives at risk and posting derogatory content about Hindu Gods, expressing his disappointment that such individuals masquerade as journalists and seek donations.
“Now post that you need money to survive and ask for donations for your website, No shame in living off by fooling people,” Prasad added.
Haha.. Says a serial hate- monger, who has put so many lives in danger for his agenda. You disguising as a fact-checker is like Terrorists talking about peace.
Now post that you need money to survive and ask for donation for your website, no shame in living off by fooling… https://t.co/CjPrtAdC24 pic.twitter.com/ei16dx1wPp— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) September 9, 2023
In response to this, Zubair went on to allege that Prasad’s tweet was hinting at the BCCI and made baseless remarks about Prasad acting at the behest of his “political masters”.
Hope you'll be forgiven for your tweet on BCCI by your political masters for compensating by abusing and comparing me to "Terrorists". https://t.co/aBQfOvUbWA
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) September 9, 2023
Further, the Islamist journalist went on to duck the blame saying “many pointed out his deleted tweet” and abused the former Indian cricketer as “Fattu” (a derogatory Hindi slang word meaning coward).
Many pointed out his deleted tweet. But he chose to attack and abuse me for obvious reasons. Fattu. https://t.co/ibFyFSiLVE
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) September 9, 2023
However, Prasad had clarified that his tweet was a general tweet and did not point out at anybody. “Since i was also speaking about the inefficiency of the BCCI around tickets in othsr tweets, it led to confusion and looked out of context. Hence deleted, varna naam lekar khulkar bolne mein Rambhakt kisiko chhodte nahin, Jai Shree Ram” calling himself aRambhakt who doesn’t shy away from naming anyone.
That was a general tweet where i spoke about how one person who is corrupt can undo a lot of good work of his organisation and it can have large scale implication on a macro level as well in any field. Since i was also speaking about the inefficiency of the BCCI around tickets… https://t.co/cbZTUeg1qO
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) September 9, 2023
However, in this spat between Venkatesh Prasad and Mohammed Zubair, the Congress ecosystem and leftist-Islamist groups rallied behind Zubair, defending him despite his questionable actions.
Indian Youth Congress President BV Srinivas said that the cricketing legend descended into disgrace.
How our legends descend into disgrace 👇 https://t.co/K8PJuYc6m0
— Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) September 10, 2023
Vijay Thottathil, Social media coordinator of Overseas Congress said “It’s heartbreaking to see your childhood heroes stoop so low ! Amir Zohal wicket still keeps flashing and one of the best moment of Indian cricket but to please masters people forget their dignity, self respect and credibility! In a flash hero to zero.”
It’s heartbreaking to see your childhood heroes stoop so low !
Amir Zohal wicket still keeps flashing and one of the best moment of Indian cricket but to please masters people forget their dignity, self respect and credibility!
In a flash hero to zero 😖 https://t.co/lKYRHoZGVU
— Vijay Thottathil (@vijaythottathil) September 10, 2023
Cartoonist Satish Acharya who is known for peddling Congress propaganda said “I’ve been your fan for decades. And this language broke my heart, Venky sir.”
I've been your fan for decades. And this language broke my heart, Venky sir. 😥 https://t.co/Q8pkuoMAsj
— Satish Acharya (@satishacharya) September 10, 2023
Leftist and Dravidianist outlet The News Minute carried a headline in which it brushed Zubair’s doings under the carpet while accusing the former Indian cricketer of “abusing” a “journalist”.
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