An Indian journalist working with Gulf News in Dubai has been threatened that his passport would be impounded and he would be arrested as and when he returns to India.
Mazhar Farooqui, Features Editor looking after Special Reports, claims he was inundated with abusive and threatening messages forwarded to his e-mail, on WhatsApp, on Facebook Messenger and on Twitter. He also claimed that while some of the accounts have been deactivated and some tweets deleted, several threats were issued from verified accounts and by people followed by the Indian Prime Minister.
Farooqui had written reports exposing Islamophobic social media posts by Indian expatriates working in the UAE and Gulf countries. The reports had led in some cases to police action and some of the Indian expatriates being sacked.
Some of the threats Farooqui received were:
- You are being closely watched by security agencies here; your future liberty in India is uncertain. U may have to go to jail if you return here.
- Iss ki family kahan rahti hai? Should be picked up. Passport should be cancelled
- You are on our list too. Along with your daughters.
Messages were also sent to authorities and police in Dubai, asking whether they had carried out a thorough background check on Farooqui, who, they said, was a Shia Muslim from Lucknow and was working secretly for Iran.
Asked to comment, Farooqui told the National Herald, “Well, it’s like a pandemic — I have got nearly 5,000 messages via e-mail, FB messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp from hundreds of such people. That said, many have deactivated their accounts or deleted their posts fearing action.”
“In the midst of all this, BJP’s IT cell has launched a relentless, malicious campaign against me on Twitter. People with a verified account and many followed by the [Indian] PM are abusing me and threatening to revoke my passport and harm me and my daughters. They have even posted their pix on social media.”
Farooqui had worked for Hindustan Times in Lucknow before moving to Gulf News in Dubai.
