A mob of protesters attacked an ANI cameraperson, Sikander, and damaged his camera while he attempted to film the downing of a police drone using kite strings near the Shambhu border on 14 February 2024.
Sikander, accompanying ANI Chandigarh reporter Karan Verma, suffered a head injury and a fracture in his right arm. Protesters, using kite strings to bring down police drones firing tear gas, assaulted Sikander and Verma around 6 pm.
ANI reporter thrashed, beaten and almost mob-lynched by protesters at Sambhu border.
This is the direct result of Zubair's constant dogwhislting against this media outlet. pic.twitter.com/4GtTVBPHWq
— Squint Neon (@TheSquind) February 14, 2024
It is noteworthy to remember that self-styled fact-checker had been dog-whistling about ANI and its founder Smita Prakash for quite some time now.
Responding to this allegation by the X user that the ANI journalist was attacked because of Mohammed Zubair, the alleged fact-checker replied, “No. This is a direct result of the News Agencies Pro-Govt narrative. Reporters on the ground have to unfortunately face this for the fault of their bosses in news rooms.” justifying the attack and blaming ANI for its “pro-govt” stance.
No. This is a direct result of the News Agencies Pro-Govt narrative. Reporters on the ground have to unfortunately face this for the fault of their bosses in news rooms. pic.twitter.com/reQh1D5a6k
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) February 15, 2024
In the below posts, it is clear that Zubair was already training his guns on ANI.
Smita Prakash's ANI is more desperate than the BJP. https://t.co/Yx04PyZjr6
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) February 7, 2024
Pro-Govt Propaganda News Agency @ANI is as expected trying its best to build a narrative against the Farmers Protests.. #FarmerProtest2024 pic.twitter.com/QttSNk0rNy
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) February 15, 2024
Hello @smitaprakash, I know you or your News Agency @ANI or other National News channels/News Anchors like (@sudhirchaudhary @RubikaLiyaquat
@AmanChopra_ @RajatSharmaLive @AMISHDEVGAN @SushantBSinha @anjanaomkashyap @ShivAroor @chitraaum @navikakumar @RShivshankar… https://t.co/KW7QlPvZa0— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) February 13, 2024
On 26 January 2024, Mohammed Zubair was awarded the Kottai Ameer Award for fostering “communal harmony”.
He is LKFC @zoo_bear, He was awarded the "Kottai Ameer Communal Harmony Award" by @mkstalin this year.
In this tweet he is justifying lynching of an ANI Reporter who was covering Farmer Protest. He was almost beaten to death by so-called Protestors..
If the same logic is… pic.twitter.com/RvBv81sdDA
— Rohit_Live (@Rohit_Live007) February 15, 2024
It is also important to remember how Nupur Sharma received fatwas because Zubair selectively edited the segment where a Muslim speaker used derogatory language towards the Shivlingam. The video began with Nupur cautioning against the use of offensive language towards the Hindu religion and its deities. Nonetheless, in his tweet, Zubair implied that only Nupur had made derogatory remarks, distorting the context of the situation.
It is also noteworthy that Zubair had mocked the Prime Minister over the death sentence awarded to the 8 Indian Navy veterans back in October 2023. He has not put out any posts after the news of their release.
Subscribe to our channels on Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.