According to a new report by Makhtoob Media, a Muslim youth has been arrested over a Facebook post concerned with solidarity with Palestine. On Thursday, the UP police arrested Yasir Akhtar from Saraimeer, a town close to Azamgarh.
It has emerged that a Facebook page called Saraimeer Express posts news from around the world. And currently, the page was posting about the Israeli attacks in Gaza. Yasir had posted a picture of a Palestinian flag, on the group, calling for people to show solidarity.
Apparently, Yasir’s first post said, “After the Friday prayer, people appeal to post Palestinian flags on their houses and cars to show support.” Later, he apologized for the mistake and said that he meant to mention Gaza in the post, “After the Friday prayer in Gaza, people appeal to post Palestinian flags on their houses and cars to show support.” He had also corrected his post and posted it on the social media platform later on.
But the police arrested him for missing out the word Gaza in his post. The police station is about twenty meters from his place. He has three kids, two daughters and a son and a wife and an elder brother in his family.
His brother, Shahzad said, “My brother just had his breakfast and freshened up in the morning. Around 10 am, the police called him to meet them. My brother even apologized for the post because he stated that was an error.”
“If anyone reads the original post, they will think he was talking about India. But he even corrected it. The question is, even if he had not, was it a crime? a crime big enough that police arrested him?”, his close friend and activist Asif said.
An FIR has been filed under IPC section 505(2) which states, “statements conducing to public mischief. Statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes. Offence under sub-section (2) committed in place of worship, etc.”
In a press release by the police, it has been mentioned that a lot of people had commented under the post. In another Facebook post by SP Sudhir Kumar Singh, the tracking of the post has been credited to the Surveillance Cell.
His brother Shahzad said that the police asked Yasir, “When India has not shown their support to either Israel or Palestine, why are you doing it then?”
India has shown its solidarity with Palestine in the UN, and also called for de-escalation of tensions in the concerned regions. Although, the Indian right wing stood with Israel on various social media platforms.
The arrest has caused the family a lot of distress, and both his brother and friend have said that Yasir is an innocent person with a close knit group of friends.
While, India officially showed solidarity with the Palestinians in the UN, and huge protests were organized all over the world, the Indian right wing showed support to Israel over social media. Also, in the past days, around 20 Kashmiris including a religious leader and an artist were arrested in Kashmir for showing solidarity with Palestine.