Award-winning journalist and senior editor of The Wire, Arfa Khanum Sherwani, alleged in a post shared on X that her private phone number and email address were leaked, leading to a wave of threatening calls and messages.
“For the past 24 hours, I’ve been receiving non-stop threatening messages and calls. This is harassment. This is dangerous. And this should not be tolerated,” she wrote, expressing her frustration and outrage.
Khanum has shared screenshots of the derogatory messages, including one that says, “You are a Muslim. Which explains why you are so sympathetic for terrorist Pakistan. But the jig is up. We all know what pisslam is all about. And we will be acting on it, whether you like it or not,” along with pictures of the desecrated Holy Quran.
Another message reads, “Heard that your handlers from Pakistan are happy with your work. Why don’t you go to Pakistan and happily settle there?” (an Islamophobic slant often used against Indian Muslims). “Also, how does it feel to betray your own country?”
Other messages include, “Long live Israel,” “Long live idol worship,” “Looks like your Islam is losing,” and “Don’t worry, we will remove Islam,” along with offensive remarks against Prophet Muhammad.
Another one reads, “Apka number Twitter par leak ho gaya hai Arfa ma’am (Your number has been leaked on Twitter, Arfa ma’am). Please contact your handler for safe house location. Pakistan is under attack right now. Will arrange for transportation ASAP. See you in Lahore. Thank you for working for ISI.”
This comes after she posted on X criticizing the war-mongering. She wrote: “Peace is patriotism. War is destruction. Borders don’t bleed—people do. Stop the war. Deescalate NOW!!!”
Alt News’ Mohammed Zubair confirmed that the X handle “Hindutva Knight,” allegedly run by a person named Chandan Sharma, is behind the doxxing incident.
Earlier, the same X handle had also engaged in similar doxxing of Indian investigative journalist Rana Ayyub, posting her number and urging followers to text her.
Journalist Meena Mohan stated, “Shameful and should stop at once. This is where you need action, govt.”
Meanwhile, Arfa’s post about the incident, which many called ‘shameful,’ has been flooded with hate comments, including those referencing ‘deescalate,’ mocking her calls for de-escalation and peace in the conflict.
The unwanted publication of personal information online, known as doxxing, is an increasingly common form of digital harassment of journalists, especially female journalists.
