On April 26, 2025, Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of the fact-checking website AltNews, stirred controversy yet again with a post on X defending two Muslim women in Kalaburagi, Karnataka, who were recorded removing Pakistani flags from a road. The flags had been placed there by Bajrang Dal activists as a protest against a recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, which claimed 26 lives, mostly tourists. Zubair immediately jumped to defend the Pakistan sympathizing women to downplay/whitewash their actions, which has been a pattern throughout his “fact-checking” career.
The Kalaburagi Incident And Zubair’s Defense
The viral video, captured by News18 Kannada, shows two women in burqas removing large stickers of the Pakistani flag from a road in Kalaburagi. Bajrang Dal members had pasted these flags at key junctions in the city to condemn the Pahalgam attack, which India has blamed on Pakistan. The women’s actions sparked widespread outrage on social media, with many interpreting it as an act of solidarity with Pakistan, a country often associated with cross-border terrorism in India.
In his X post, Zubair claimed that the women removed the flags not because they were Pakistani, but because they mistook them for an “Islamic flag.” He wrote, “When local reporters were contacted, they say that the women removed the flags from the road thinking it was an Islamic flag. Not because it was a Pakistani flag. We’ve seen several people, including News channels, News Anchors sharing Islamic flag as Pakistani flag too.”
Bajrang Dal members had protested by pasting Pakistani flags on the road condemning the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in Kalaburgi.
A video of two Women removing the flag is viral with a claim that they removed the Pakistani flag.
When local reporters were contacted, They say… pic.twitter.com/GLsHRZzvxm— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) April 26, 2025
Zubair’s explanation hinges on the idea that the women were driven by a misunderstanding, not a defense of Pakistan.
This narrative, however, has been met with skepticism and criticism. Many on X questioned the plausibility of the women’s inability to distinguish between the Pakistani flag and an Islamic flag, pointing out that the Pakistani flag has distinct features like a white stripe and a specific design of the crescent moon and star.
Pattern Of Whitewashing
This is not the first time Mohammed Zubair has been accused of whitewashing or downplaying actions by Islamists or Muslim groups. Critics argue that his fact-checking often appears to defend controversial actions by framing them as misunderstandings or by shifting the narrative to avoid implicating the individuals involved.
One notable instance occurred in September 2019, when Zubair addressed a controversy in Kerala where a college had allegedly raised a flag resembling Pakistan’s during a protest. Zubair clarified that the flag in question was not Pakistan’s but the flag of the Muslim Students Federation (MSF), a student wing of the Indian Union Muslim League. He posted, “Don’t be over excited. It’s not Pakistan flag. It’s MSF (Muslim Students Federation) flag.”
Don’t be over excited. It’s not Pakistan flag. It’s MSF (Muslim Students Federation) flag.
https://t.co/znvIgCc8C6— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) September 2, 2019
While his clarification was factually correct, critics pointed out that the MSF flag’s striking similarity to Pakistan’s flag could still be seen as problematic in the context of a public protest, especially given India’s fraught relationship with Pakistan.
Many felt Zubair’s response downplayed the symbolic implications of the incident.
Another instance that drew significant backlash was in 2022, when Zubair flagged “hate speech” by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson, Nupur Sharma, who made remarks about the Prophet Muhammad. Zubair’s reporting led to widespread protests and international attention. It also resulted in his arrest by the Delhi Police on charges of promoting enmity between religious groups. Zubair selectively highlights hate speech by Hindu figures while ignoring similar instances of inflammatory rhetoric by Muslim leaders. For example, around the same time, several Muslim clerics in India made provocative statements calling for violence against those who insulted Islam, but Zubair did not address these with the same vigor, according to his detractors.
Zubair’s History Of Controversy
Zubair’s career as a fact-checker has been marked by both praise and criticism. As a co-founder of AltNews, he has been lauded for exposing misinformation and hate speech, particularly in the context of India’s polarized political landscape. However, his work has also made him a target for right-wing groups, who often label him as biased towards Muslims and accuse him of shielding Islamist actions.
In 2024, Zubair faced legal action after he highlighted a hate speech by Yati Narsinghanand, a controversial Hindu priest known for his Islamophobic rants. Zubair’s post led to protests by Muslims outside the priest’s temple in Uttar Pradesh, which in turn prompted a BJP politician to file a complaint against Zubair. The charges escalated to include accusations of “endangering sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India,” a non-bailable offense. Zubair’s agenda has been to protect Muslim interests at the expense of national unity.
Public Reaction To The Kalaburagi Defense
The Kalaburagi incident has further fueled accusations that Zubair is more interested in defending Muslims than in addressing the broader implications of their actions. Social media reactions to his post were overwhelmingly negative, with users accusing him of creating excuses for what they saw as an unpatriotic act.
BJP leader, Shehzad Poonawalla, mockingly referred to Zubair as “LKFC”, saying, “It is like you saying – you cannot distinguish between a human being and a goat.”
LKFC (Lutyens ka fact checker ) are you saying these practising Muslims don’t know what is “Islamic Flag” and what is “Pakistani flag”
It is like you saying – you cannot distinguish between a human being and a goat.
(( pls reply by posting irrelevant screenshots in 3,2,1 …) https://t.co/ocMuOWOaeq
— Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) April 26, 2025
The Larger Context
The Kalaburagi incident comes amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack. India canceled visas for Pakistani nationals, and protests erupted in both countries over the escalating diplomatic conflict. In this charged atmosphere, the act of removing Pakistani flags from a road—whether mistaken for an Islamic flag or not—carries significant symbolic weight. For many Indians, it raises questions about national loyalty, especially given Pakistan’s history of alleged involvement in terrorist activities in India.
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