Journalist Arfa Khanum gets doxxed, Islamophobic threats over call for peace

Award-winning journalist and senior editor at The Wire, Arfa Khanum Sherwani, has reported online abuse following her personal phone number and email address being leaked on social media. Since Arfa’s WhatsApp has been flooded with threats and Islamophobic messages over her stance on the growing violence between India and Pakistan of late.

Sherwani took to X (formerly Twitter) to express her distress, stating, “I’ve been doxxed. My private phone number and email were leaked on Twitter. For the past 24 hours, I’ve been receiving nonstop threatening messages and calls. This is harassment. This is dangerous. And this should not be tolerated.”

She also shared screenshots of the abusive messages, which included Islamophobic slurs, threats, and derogatory remarks targeting her faith and professional integrity.

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The abuse Sherwani faced escalated after her posts promoting peace and de-escalation during continued violence between India and Pakistan. “Peace is patriotism. War is destruction. Borders don’t bleed—people do. Stop the war. Deescalate NOW!!!”

Her post was met with an orchestrated hate campaign, including messages like, “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.”

The doxxing was claimed to have been done by the X handle “Hindutva Knight,” which is operated by one Chandan Sharma.

The account has been implicated before in such attacks on other journalists, such as Rana Ayyub, whose personal details were also shared, resulting in a deluge of threatening calls and messages. In both instances, the goal is to intimidate, silence, and discredit journalists who are critical of the government.

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