Fact-checker Md Zubair faces social media backlash over ‘mockery’ of Himanta’s Hindi accent

Guwahati, Feb 27 (PTI) Fact-checker Mohammed Zubair on Friday faced backlash on social media for purportedly mocking the Hindi accent of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma while referring to the BJP leader’s large family in the context of the state government’s stand on families with more than three children.

Demands for legal action and arrest of the Altnews co-founder were also raised by different users, who maintained that the comments smacked of racism.

Zubair, in his X handle ‘zoo_bear’, shared the screenshot of an April 2020 post by Sarma with a black and white photograph, which was captioned by the CM as: "This is how I grew up in the lap of my father in the lovely surroundings of my mother and brothers. (Sushanta our youngest is yet to be born)".

The chief minister has four brothers.

Zubair shared the screenshot with the post: "Hona nahi saiye.... Band karna saiye na.... Hume karna saiye desh me mahol banna saiye... Aeno sarkaar ka kaam nahi hai....”.

He made the remarks while re-sharing a post by another X user, which had a recent video clip of Sarma in which the CM spoke about the Assam government’s law against polygamy and how it will bring a new legislation in its next term, cutting off government scheme benefits to those who have more than three children.

The Hindi remarks posted by Zubair appeared to be a transcript of an earlier media byte by Sarma, in which the CM was asked about the ban on cow slaughter, in which the BJP leader supported the ban but maintained that it was not for the government to do it, and an environment has to be built for it.

The fact-checker also shared the video clip with Sarma’s byte almost at the same time as he posted the screenshot of the CM’s family photo with his remarks in the wee hours on Friday.

Hitting out at Zubair, state Cabinet minister Pijush Hazarika said Hindi is not the mother tongue in Assam, and people grow up speaking Assamese, Bodo, Karbi, Mishing, Dimasa, Bengali and dozens of other beautiful languages.

"Yet when we speak Hindi, we do so with pride, not because it is imposed on us, but because we believe in national unity and integration. For decades, people from the Northeast have made the effort to learn and speak Hindi so that we can connect with the rest of India," he asserted.

Hazarika added that "our accents carry our geography. Our tone carries our roots. That is not a weakness, that is diversity within unity".

He questioned whether the accent of the people of the Northeast or the lingusitc identity of a region was being mocked under the guise of mocking the CM.

"This is the classic liberal elitism unable to counter policies, governance, development or political arguments, so they descend into personal jibes. When you cannot debate substance, you attack pronunciation," he added.

Another Cabinet minister Prasanta Phukan posted: "Accents tell stories of hills, rivers, and communities. They show effort, adaptation, and belonging. Criticising how someone speaks Hindi says more about intolerance than politics. Unity grows through respect, never through ridicule." Musician Rahul Gautam Sharma, also criticising Zubair, said in a post: "Been a fan but this is cheap @zoo_bear".

Several X users tagged the state police and director general to take note of Zubair’s post and take necessary action against him, also maintaining that the fact-checker was indulging in racism through his ‘mockery’ of Sarma’s accent.

However, a few users also questioned the silence of others over Sarma’s ‘communal’ speeches.

"Where was this moral sensitivity when Himanta Biswa Sarma was delivering openly communal, divisive speeches?” a user Ved Borah, who identifies himself as a restaurateur and farmer, asked.

Terming the outrage "selective", he added, “The accent becomes the issue, not the hypocrisy being exposed. Mockery may be debatable, but why this eagerness to dodge the real question?” PTI SSG SSG MNB