Indian journalist Mohammad Zubair, who was target of Hindu extremists three months ago, and his colleague Prateek Sinha have joined the race for the Nobel Peace Prize.
However, who will get the Nobel Peace Prize this year will be announced on Friday at 11 o’clock in Oslo, Norway.
According to the website of Time magazine, this time the names of Prateek Sinha and Mohammad Zubair, co-founders of fact check website Alt News from India, are included in this race.
Three months ago, Mohammad Zubair was arrested under sections 153A and 295 of the Indian Penal Code. He was accused of insulting Hinduism.
In 2018, Zubair shared a satirical tweet on Twitter, with a screenshot from 1983 Indian comedy film Kissi Se Na Kehna by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The screenshot from the film showed signboard with the name “Honeymoon Hotel” repainted to “Hanuman Hotel”.
On 19 June 2022, an anonymous Twitter user named “Hanuman Bhakt @balajikijaiin” (currently account suspended) quoted Zubair’s tweet from four years earlier, and asked Delhi Police to take action against him calling it “direct insult” to Hindus.
On 27 June, Zubair was arrested by Delhi Police after being accused of “hurting religious sentiments”. The charges under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code and section 67 of the IT Act were pressed against Zubair.
Vrinda Grover, Zubair’s lawyer, asserted that while many social media users tweeted the same message, only Zubair was targeted by police. Grover also alleged that Zubair was a target of police because of his Muslim faith, name, and profession.
Let us remind you that, On 27 May 2022, when Nupur Sharma, spokeswoman of India’s ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), made controversial remarks about the Islamic prophet Muhammad, on Times Now television channel debate on Gyanvapi Mosque dispute.
A day later, the video clip of her comments was shared by Mohammed Zubair on social media. Nupur Sharma later alleged that it was “heavily edited and selected video”, which was denied by Pratik Sinha. Later, Times Now deleted video programme clip from its YouTube channel.
Deutsche Welle reported that Zubair had helped bring international attention to the controversial remarks. After this controversy, few days later Zubair was arrested in above case.
Let’s back to the Nobel Peace Prize
The inventor of dynamite and Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel established the Nobel Peace Prize in 1895. This award is given to those people who have benefited the human race the most.
The winner is selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which consists of five members. This committee is appointed by the Parliament of Norway.
According to a survey by Reuters, Norwegian lawmakers this time apart from Pratik Sinha and Mohamed Zubair, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, Belarus’s opposition leader Svyatlana Sichanovskaya, British Nature broadcaster David Attenborough, World Health Organization, environmental activist Greta Thunberg, Pope Francis, Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe and the National Unity Government of Myanmar nominated.
The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov. Both of them were given this award for their efforts to protect the freedom of expression.
Earlier, former US President Barack Obama, former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Myanmar’s Supreme Leader Aung San Suu Kyi have also met.
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