J&K Cop Who Booked Masrat Zahra Draws Flak for Tweet Against PM

Tahir Ashraf had questioned photojournalist Masrat Zahra for her “anti-national” social media posts.

Cyber cell head of Jammu and Kashmir Police Tahir Ashraf

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

After questioning a photojournalist from Kashmir, Masrat Zahra, for her social media posts of Tuesday, 21 April, the cyber cell head of Jammu and Kashmir Police has been criticised for an old tweet of his, calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi “sadistic”.

After a huge backlash, Tahir Ashraf, Superintendent of Police of the cyber police wing, had to pull down the tweet that he posted in 2013.

Citing an NDTV interview of PM Modi on the 2002 Gujarat riots wherein the then chief minister had said it would pain him “even if a puppy came under a car”, Ashraf had tweeted, “Narendra Modi's puppy analogy on 2002 riots shows his real character... sadistic”.

Netizens called out the officer for his controversial posts on BJP and Hindutva before the party came in power in 2014.

The old tweet surfaced after the Jammu and Kashmir Police charged Masrat Zahra under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on Saturday, 18 April, for allegedly uploading posts that glorify “anti-national activities” on social media.

“The allegation of the Kashmir police that she uploaded anti-national posts on social media and that they were written with criminal intention to induce the youth and to promote offences against public tranquility is a travesty calculated to intimidate the media and have a chilling effect on free speech, in a state that has already been suffering since August 2019 from severe restrictions”, the statement read.

(With inputs from NDTV)