Did not get Nobel, but work got recognition: Harsh Mander said - the world understood the importance of the fight of love, Prateek-Zubair said - there is still a lot of work to be done

This year's Nobel Peace Prize has been announced. This award has been given to one person and two organizations working for human rights. These include the Russian Human Rights Organization Memorial and the Ukrainian Human Rights Organization Center for Civil Liberties, in addition to Belarusian Human Rights Advocate Alis Belyatske.

Earlier, Time magazine had informed about the names of three people from India in the race for the Nobel Peace Prize. Among them were the fact-checkers Mohammad Zubair and Prateek Sinha, besides Harsh Mander of Caravan-e Mohabbat Sanstha, who worked against communalism.

All three Indians may not have got the Nobel, but in a conversation with Bhaskar, all three said that they are very happy to be shortlisted for the award, as it has recognized their work internationally.

Firstly Prateek Sinha, who is the co-founder of Alt News…

About career…

In 2017 we started Alt News. I took my engineering degree in 2003. Till 2017 I worked as an engineer only. I became an engineer, but I felt that I could use my skills for the society.

Father Mukul Sinha was a lawyer in the Gujarat High Court. He has fought cases related to Gujarat riots in Ahmedabad. My mother was also an activist, so socio-political issues were discussed in the house. This is where my background was formed.

On meeting Zubair…

I met Zubair in 2014. We became good friends. In 2016, I told Zubair that we both have about 80,000 followers on Facebook and Twitter together. Good audience. Together we can do something in the media space. Especially in the field of misinformation.

On the launch of Alt News…

I left my contract in December 2016. Zubair was working at Nokia at that time. They still work full time because they have to run the family. They can't leave the job. Initially, I started Alt News and Zubair used to volunteer.

The event that had an effect…

In August 2016, a rally was held in Una, Gujarat. Just now Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani had formed an organization - Una Dalit Adhikar Samiti. 4 Dalit children were killed in Gujarat. In response to this, a rally was held in August 2016. This rally was to go from Ahmedabad to Una. Many members of my parents' organization Jan Sangharsh Manch were involved in this. Me and my mother were also in the rally. I made videos and documented it on social media.