Nobel Peace Prize 2022: Muslim Indian journalist listed as unofficial favourite

Co-founders of Indian fact-checking website Alt News, Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair have been listed as an unofficial favourite for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, ahead of the announcement of the winner on October 7.

TIME magazine, in a report, compiled a list of “some of the favourites to win, based on nominations that were made public via Norwegian lawmakers, predictions from bookmakers, and picks from the Peace Research Institute Oslo.”

The list includes journalists Mr. Sinha and Mr. Zubair, who “have relentlessly been battling misinformation in India.” The Time report said that the duo has “methodologically debunked rumors and fake news circulating on social media and called out hate speech.

Mohammed Zubair is a co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News. He is a critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, and regularly tracks and highlights anti-Muslim hate speech by Hindu right-wing activists and politicians.

He was detained earlier this year because of a tweet from 2018 that included a screenshot from a well-known Hindi film, which authorities claim was insulting to Hindu religious beliefs.