Veerender Jubbal’s was one of the most widely shared faces on social media when Paris came under terrorist attack in November 2015. A photoshopped picture of Veerender- in a suicide vest and holding up the Quran which showed him as a “terrorist”- went viral.
After the attack in Nice on Thursday, that has left over 80 people dead, the picture is once again circulating on social media.
'French muslim veerender jubbal' who is actually a sikh.
— Abrar (@Abrarsenal) July 15, 2016
Nice nice pic.twitter.com/cXiLXIASGz
This is awful! People are defending known racist propagandist, Veerender Jubbal. https://t.co/xvOqADum7J
— Plippy McGee (@Plipster) July 15, 2016
@MaximumOverhonk Veerender 'Slaughter them all, the west shall fall' Jubbal
— Arcon (@Arcon_) July 15, 2016
@VenusianTweeter
— Zidane (@cwb_in_tn_81) July 10, 2016
'I will never rest until all the white people are dead'
~ Veerender "Sikh and Destroy' Jubbal
In a recent interview to The Guardian, Veerender spoke about how the experience last year has affected him.
An aspiring freelance journalist in Canada, Veerender had created his Twitter account to gain a following and share his work on the platform. However, when people started to share a morphed version of a selfie that he had posted earlier, hate poured at him from all sides.
Even though he tried reporting many of these tweets, the racial slurs and victimization did not stop. He even received a death threat on Twitter along with his residential address being made public on social media.
“I have always had depression, anxiety and OCD, but after the death threat, it got worse. I became hesitant to leave the house alone,” he told The Guardian.
The image also appeared in one of Spain’s biggest newspapers La Razon. The paper which carried his picture with the caption “one of the terrorists” later issued an apology for the same.
A report in The Guardian then stated that “It is unclear who edited the image and why, though some have suggested that Jubbal’s criticism of the Gamergate movement was the motivation for the smear.”
I hope everyone has caught up with what is going on with me.
— Veerender Jubbal (@Veeren_Jubbal) November 15, 2015
I went viral due to a photoshopped image claiming I am a terrorist.
This whole thing puts me in a bad position in the sense, where I could be harmed and/or hurt due to this.
— Veerender Jubbal (@Veeren_Jubbal) November 15, 2015
This is libel from news, and TV.
This image has been used, and placed on the front page of a major Spain newspaper--putting me as one of the people behind terrorist attacks.
— Veerender Jubbal (@Veeren_Jubbal) November 15, 2015
You can all check the last retweets.
— Veerender Jubbal (@Veeren_Jubbal) November 14, 2015
Let us start with basics.
Never been to Paris.
Am a Sikh dude with a turban.
Lives in Canada.
Veerender was put through a similar experience when Brussels airport and Maalbreek metro station were attacked in March this year.
“People started sharing that picture again and tweeting stuff like, ‘Did the police not catch you?’ and, ‘Are you still bombing places?’ he said.
Veerender’s last Twitter activity dates back to December last year.
This time around though people are sharing the older picture again, there are also those who have been speaking up against victimizing Veerender all over again.
Oh dear it is happening again to him... https://t.co/0rkbO4OusM
— Gappistan Radio (@GappistanRadio) July 15, 2016
Racist fools are attacking Veerender Jubbal AGAIN?!
— Amadi (@amaditalks) July 15, 2016
Please protect Veerender Jubbal, he's been harassed constantly more than once each time there's a terrorist attack.
— degg:\ (@Monodi) July 15, 2016
1.5 years after #JeSuisCharlie, someone is framing Veerender Jubbal again for #NiceAttack. This is what racism is about.
— Peter Lin (@prodigalgeek) July 15, 2016
Okay, I hardly ever yell. But right now I want to scream at people who are trying to frame Veerender Jubbal AGAIN.
— Nyn (@Lawilc01) July 15, 2016