Arrested UP Journalist Prashant Kanojia Said Hinduism Is “Filth On Humanity”; Called For Killing Hindu Saints On Twitter

Prashant Kanojia, a freelance journalist based in Delhi, was arrested by Uttar Pradesh on Saturday (8 June) for sharing objectionable content against chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Kanojia had shared a video on social media where a woman was seen telling news reporters of various channels that she had sent him a marriage proposal, reports NDTV.

Kanojia, previously, had posted on Twitter, calling for killing of Hindu saints to save humanity. In different tweets, he also called Hinduism “filth on humanity”, “fake religion with fake gods”, “Useless religion with useless rituals”, adding “hope it gets destroyed”.

Kanojia had also posted a tweet insulting Hindu Dalits, calling them “animals with no brain”.

He was picked up by the police from his home in Delhi's West Vinod Nagar in the Saturday afternoon and taken to Lucknow where he was formally arrested under Section 67 of the Information Act. He has been charged with criminal defamation and making statements causing public mischief.

His arrest led to many on social media demanding his immediate release including Siddharth Varadarajan, Founding Editor of The Wire, Supreme Court advocate Karuna Nundy, Manak Gupta of News24, Tehseen Poonawala, Jignesh Mevani and Congress national spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi, among others.

Kanojia’s Twitter introduction says that he is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Mass Communication and Mumbai University. It also says that he has in the past worked with The Wire and Indian Express.