Ali Sohrab, an Islamist radical, who likes to call himself a ‘public figure’ and has in the past claimed to be a journalist, is allegedly adding fuel to the communal fires on social media. A study of whose social media timeline shows how his posts aim at rousing communal passions.
His posts reflect an effort to radicalise Muslims, and focus on those impressionable Muslims who may be deeply religious, but don’t necessarily harbour extremist ideas. His latest tweet was on Kamal Khan, senior journalist of NDTV, who he almost “accused” of being secular and liberal when reporting.
According to Ali Sohrab, the celebrated journalist had praised the Hindu god Ram, and Sohrab accused Hindus of celebrating Khan’s death. However it is evident to anyone who has been on social media since, that Kamal Khan’s demise was deeply and sincerely mourned by thousands and his insightful reportage, especially from Uttar Pradesh has been hailed as being of the highest journalistic standards.
Sohrab calls himself an “Unapologetic Muslim”, and paints all non-Muslims in one brushstroke. He also claims to be “vulnerable” as a “potential victim” to hate crimes such as lynching, he dangerously claims he is “muslim enough to be lynched by Indian Hindus”.
This is more than attention seeking, it is a dangerous provocation, and an attempt to make people eye people of other communities with suspension. On Facebook, Sohrab has 2,74,000 followers and on Twitter he has over 23,001 followers, he often hashtags his comments as ‘kakavaani’ loosely translated as ‘uncle’s words’.
He often refers to Hindus as ‘Hunood’, and mocks Muslims who are secular. Before journalist Kamal Khan, he had mocked the demise of actor Irfan Khan.
In 2019, Ali Sohrab was arrested in New Delhi for his comments against political activist Kamlesh Tiwari who was hacked to death. According to a new report, Uttar Pradesh police had then lodged an FIR against him at Hazratganj, Lucknow on charges of sharing objectionable content on the murder of Tiwari a Hindu Samaj founder. Sohrab was accused of posting ‘hate against a specific religion,’ the Lucknow police had told the media
