Raqib Hameed Naik

Raqib Hameed Naik is a Kashmiri multimedia journalist and a speaker. He hails from Doda district, Jammu and Kashmir, pursued Masters in Public Administration from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi and Masters in Multimedia Journalism from University of Bolton, United Kingdom.  Currently, he is News Director at TwoCircles.net, a news website that covers Indian Muslims and Dalits. Formerly, he was working as an International correspondent with the Washington based The Globe Post and has also reported from China. His work has appeared on Al Jazeera, Stories Asia, The Wire, Caravan Magazine, TRT World, The Defense Post, The Third Pole.

Raqib supports Kashmir separatism. He frequently addresses terrorists as ‘rebel-commanders‘ and addresses Kashmir as Indian-administered Kashmir and calls Kashmi “disputed”. He wrote an article titled ‘We Will Fight Till the End:’ Kashmir Reacts to India Rescinding Special Status in The Globepost and quoted only separatist voices like Shah Faesal, Shehla Rashid, academics cum Kashmiri separatists, Ather Zia and Ashok Swain, a known Hindu hater. Ather Zia is a professor in University of Northern Colorado and is associated with a dodgy organisation called Stand with Kashmir. Ashok Swain is known for his hatred shown towards RSS-BJP and is professor of hate and conflict in Uppsala University, Sweden.

He has lied about how new domicile laws in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will alienate local kashmiris and make them dispossessed. He often indulges in rumour- and fear-mongering. Raqib blames security forces for the alienation and radicalisation of youth while never talking about terrorism exported by Pakistan in the region. He regularly quotes separatist activists like, known Hindu hater, Australian-born CJ Werleman or Rao Farman Ali, a Director-Programmes at Institute of Public Policy Research and Development, Jammu & Kashmir who has defended and downplayed ISIS flags in the Union Territory as “the unfurling of ISIS flags is the result of growing alienation among Kashmiri youth and has nothing to do with ISIS activities in Iraq, Syria or other countries.“. He goes to extreme lengths to not mention Pakistan’s role and blames Indian Army presence in radicalising Kashmiri youth. In article on 28th November 2017, titled ‘At Least We Will Live at Peace’: Families Ask Kashmir to Investigate Unmarked Graves, Raqib says “Kashmir, a Muslim-majority state, rose up against Indian rule in 1987 after disputed assembly elections. Thousands of young people disenchanted with Indian rule took up arms to fight the security forces, while others stayed back but expressed sympathy for their cause.” The entire article is based on lies and propaganda blaming Indian Army while giving a clean chit to Pakistan. He has never s a word about how Hindus from the valley were raped, tortured, butchered and threatened in 1990 which led them live like refugees in their own country. He also never sympathised with Hindu and Sikh girls abduction, rape and forced conversion in Pakistan.

Raqib also has written against the construction of Bursar dam in Kashmir, a project that has been in the making since 2012. He has also argued in favour of illegal rohingyas in India and opposed their deportation. Rohingyas are known to have links violent extremist and terror outfits in the Indian sub-continent. In article for TRTworld.com which Raqib co-authored with Majid Maqbool, India’s far-right turns hostile toward Rohingya refugees argues “In Jammu City, Raina’s activism is another expression of the party’s anti-minority agenda. He has now turned his focus on Rohingya refugees, describing a few hundred of them as a demographic threat to the city’s Hindu majority population.” He lied about the number of Rohingyas as “a few hundred of them”, when in fact the actual number mentioned by Economic Times was 10,000 in 2017. Rohingyas in Myanmar are accused of massacre of 100’s of Hindus, as reported by Amnesty International. In a personal blogpost, Raqib has accused RSS of spoiling the relationship between Buddhists and Muslims in Ladakh region.

In TwoCirles.net, Raqib present’s a series of articles, showing Roghinyas as harmless people. He doesn’t talk about their radicalisation, massacre of Hindus in Rakhine, Myanmar, or their illegal entry into India via India-Banglasdesh border with no supporting documents.

Raqib has often appeared in meetings, seminars, conferences organised by Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), anti-India Emgage Action, Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR) and other anti-India, anti-Hindu organisations. Raqib appeared before the US Congressional briefing on Kashmir and against National Register of Citizens (NRC). In May 2020, Hindu forces came together to stop India’s Ministry of Tourism to release sponsorship payment for a Hinduphobic event organised by Harvard Kennedy School called “Being a Muslim in Contemporary India” where Raqib was a speaker. The other participants were Arfa Khanum Sherwani, Aman Wadud, Hussain Haidry.