Journalist faces threats, abuse over anti-war post
New Delhi: Arfa Khanum Sherwani, an award-winning journalist and senior editor at The Wire, has said that she is being targeted with hate, threats, and vulgar messages after posting an anti-war message on social media.
According to Kashmir Media Service, in a post shared on X, Arfa wrote: “For the past 24 hours, I have been receiving continuous threatening messages and calls. This is harassment. This is dangerous. And it should not be tolerated.”
Screenshots shared by her show messages filled with obscene language, communal slurs, and attacks on her religious identity. One message read, “You are a Muslim. That is why you have so much sympathy for terrorist Pakistan. But now the game is over.”
Others mocked Islam, used offensive language about the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and shared disturbing images, including the desecration of the Holy Quran. Many of the messages accused her of being “pro-Pakistan” and told her to “stay in Pakistan.”
The abuse began after Arfa posted a brief appeal for peace in the context of rising military tensions. “Peace is patriotic. War is destruction. Borders do not shed blood — people do. Stop the war. Now de-escalate the tension immediately,” she wrote.
Her post received wide attention, but also sparked a flood of hate, including from users promoting Hindutva views. Some users mocked her words on peace, calling them “unpatriotic” or “anti-national.”
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