• Three Indian men in London physical assaulted Kashmiri activist Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur following his lecture in London.
• Since the attack, Indian media outlet OpIndia has launched a vicious and unfounded smear campaign against Thakur.
On Friday, August 9th, prominent Kashmiri activist Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur was assaulted by three Hindutva extremists after delivering a lecture titled “Kashmir and Resistance” in London. The attackers verbally abused him before initiating a physical assault, to which Muzzammil responded in self-defense, leaving one attacker with a broken nose and another with a broken jaw. Muzzammil is the President of the World Kashmir Freedom Movement (WKFM) and Director of The Justice Foundation: Kashmir Institute of International Affairs.
In a disturbing attempt to discredit him, Indian Media outlet, OpIndia have published grotesque and baseless claims against Muzzammil since the incident:
It is worth noting that in 2019, the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) rejected OpIndia’s application for certification as a fact-checker. Between January 2018 and June 2020, 45 IFCN-certified fact-checkers identified 25 instances of fake news and 14 misreported stories published by OpIndia. The website is owned by Aadhyaasi Media and Content Services, previously a subsidiary of the parent company of the right-wing magazine Swarajya. The current CEO of OpIndia is Rahul Roushan, with Nupur J Sharma (English) and Chandan Kumar (Hindi) serving as editors.
It is profoundly concerning that such a news organisation is allowed to continue to perpetuate misinformation and incite hatred against Muslims.
Our brother Muzzammil has long been a dedicated advocate for Kashmir. We are certain that this incident will not deter him, as he remains steadfast in his unwavering commitment to championing the rights of the Kashmiri people.
