Who is Gabbar Singh? Why has Mohammad Zubair called him out on X?

Social media has gone berserk after a few old posts 'insulting' Hinduism including its gods, texts and religious beliefs, by Indian entrepreneur and influencer Abhishek Asthana, who goes by the name of 'Gabbar Singh' on X, resurfaced on the platform.

While Asthana has apologised for the old posts, saying that he has matured as an individual, what has added fuel to the raging controversy is a reply by Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair, who on Thursday (November 2) remarked that ‘Gabbar’ is lucky he is not a Muslim and hence wouldn’t be hounded for comments he made in the past.

Who is Gabbar Singh?

Asthana who calls himself Gabbar Singh (@GabbarSingh) on X, the name being borrowed from Hindi cinema’s dreaded villain by the same name, is the co-founder of Hood, a pseudonymous social media platform, and founder of ad agency GingerMonkey. A former software engineer, Asthana has over 1.4 million followers on X and is hugely followed by right-wing trolls.

Interestingly, while his earlier posts on X albeit crass in nature, were directly critical of the government with leftist undertones, over the years have assumed a more centrist nature, bordering more on the rightist ideology. Today, he is invited to several right-wing events to deliver talks and is followed on X, formerly Twitter by celebrities like Union Minister Smriti Irani and Amitabh Bachchan.

Why is he in news now?

A series tweets, some of them going as back as 2013, have re-surfaced on X, in which Asthana had made disparaging comments on Hindu gods and beliefs – be it on the ‘phallus of Lord Shiva’, Brahminism or Hindu epic Ramayan.

“Not a big fan of ‘Ch***ya Ramayan’,” he said in a tweet in April 2020.

“@Dorkstar Once I told the uncle, if you translate your name it basically means a ‘dick’. Idol of Shiva,” Asthana posted on August 28, 2013.

“I once told Mahesh Murthy (Indian entrepreneur) that his name literally means a ‘dick’,” he reiterated the same joke in April 2017.

In another series of posts on X, he spoke about his fondness for beef, a touchy topic for the ‘custodians’ of Hindutva.

“I have had beef a lot of times. What’s the big deal,” he said in a post on November 3, 2020.

“Just found a contraption which converts inexpensive grass to pounds and pounds of delicious beef. It is called a cow,” he had said in an earlier post dated August 31, 2015.

“My Bangladeshi Muslim maid went to her hometown for a month, so she got us a substitute maid, this new lady comes in & says ‘Bhaiya, Mai to Brahmin hun, Khana saaf banaugi, mere ko permanent Kar do.’ Immediately sacked her,” said a post on November 2016.

As his old posts spread like wildfire on social media and the Hindutva bridge was at a loss of words, Asthana tendered an apology while admitting that they were in poor taste.

“A few old tweets surfaced. People rightfully pointed out they were not in great taste & disrespectful. Though they were old, and since then I have matured as an individual, still it isn’t an excuse. I have deleted all of them. Unconditional apologies for the same,” he posted on X on Thursday while deleting the old tweets.

Why has he been called out on social media?

While many right-wing handles have backed him, several users on X have slammed Asthana, demanding his arrest and asking if ‘Sanghis’ have the right to offend Hinduism and can go scot-free when caught.

Replying to Asthana’s apology, fact-finder and Alt News co-founder Zubair said his (Hindu) name gives him immunity from arrest and persecution for posts he made years ago.

“Don't worry. You are Abhishek Asthana not Mohammed Zubair. Delhi Police will not arrest you for your OLD tweets, Police won't file one FIR after another and make sure you visit multiple jails just for your OLD tweets. There won't be 8-10 FIRs in multiple states against you for your OLD tweets. State Govt will not form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe you for your OLD tweets to make sure you remain in jail under UAPA. Even if they arrest, They will not form multiple teams to question you for hours about to foreign visits, your religion, your friends family and colleagues, Bank balance etc. You are Abhishek so you are safe,” said Zubair's post.

Last year, Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police in connection with a tweet he made in 2018 in which he allegedly insulted Hindu religious beliefs. While he was freed on bail after a month of incarceration, his arrest and detention raised valid questions on journalistic freedom under the Narendra Modi government.

Even though Asthana has since deleted the contentious posts, several X handles shared screenshots of the lot of them. Here is a peek: