NEW DELHI: expectedly, the Press Club of India (PCI), on Friday, comes into the defence of Saba Naqvi, who allegedly mocked Shivling that was found during the videography of the Gyanvapi complex of Varanasi. The PCI doesn’t find it blasphemous and have asked authority to withdraw the FIR registered against Saba Naqvi by the Delhi police.
It is notable that Delhi Police, on Wednesday, filed an FIR against ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, former BJP leader Naveen Kumar Jindal, ‘journalist’ Saba Naqvi, and others over allegations of promoting false information with an intention to create unrest in cyberspace.
Other than the mentioned above, some names in the FIR include Shadab Chauhan, Maulana Mufti Nadeem, Abdur Rehman, Gulzar Ansari, Anil Kumar Meena, and Pooja Shakun. Rajasthan-based Maulana Mufti Nadeem had threatened to gouge the eyes of Nupur Sharma and chop off her hands in presence of state police.
A tweet from the official Twitter handle of the Press Club of India said, “The Press Club of India strongly condemns the lopsided and highhanded manner of Delhi Police in lodging FIR against Saba Naqvi, senior journalist, and columnist.”
It also said, “The whimsical way of Delhi Police in reaching out to her posts reflects Delhi Police’s more-than-eagerness to make her posts blasphemous thereby registering her as accused of a crime which she has not committed at all. The Press Club demands immediate withdrawal of FIR against her and all on-going inquiries against her be stopped forthwith.”
While, Saba Naqvi had shared a picture of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre on May 18, 2022 to take a swipe at the Shivling discovered inside the Gyanvapi compound. Attributing it to Whatsapp, Naqvi shared an image of the huge dome of the centre with a caption that said, “Huge Shivling discovered at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.”
Soon after Saba Naqvi shared the picture, a raft of social media users objected to her tweet, accusing Naqvi of hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus by insulting Shivling and trivializing a consequential discovery made at the Gyanvapi mosque that could have profound implications in determining the result of the ongoing dispute. Naqvi later deleted the tweet and apologized for her callous tweet mocking Lord Shiva.