Where are the Award wapsi gang, Azadi seekers and left wingers now? Will they stand up for Nahid Afrin the way they did for Gurmehar Kaur?
A total number of 42 Muslim clerics issued the fatwa against the Indian Idol sensation Nahid Afrin yesterday demanding a complete ban on her performance in public shows. Those who were vocal against what happened with Gurmehar are found dumb now.
It is doubted that the fatwas came as a reaction after the 16-year-old singer sang songs which were against the increasing terrorism all over the globe in her recent musical show. And the Mullas of Assam found it against their taste. They accused Nahid of going against the Sharia Law, thus demanding a blanket ban on her performing in public.
‘My singing is a gift of god. I believe it must be properly utilised. Not doing so is ignoring god. I am not worried. Many Muslim singers are my inspiration. I won’t stop singing.’ She said when asked about the fatwas.
According to other reports, the fatwa has been issued against her keeping in view an upcoming event that was to be held on March 25. Since the venue of the event was in the vicinity of a mosque and a graveyard, the clerics have announced to boycott her singing shows and have asked her to stop performing in public.
Many organisations of Assam like ABVP, AASU and others heavily criticised the move and asked for a proper investigation.
Is it not a religious intolerance? Issuing fatwas not against the democratic values of our country? The whole country went berserk when the Gurmehar issue broke out. The issue garnered the first page headlines of every newspaper for days and reserved the prime-time debates on T.V. Sympathy came pouring in for the DU girl from people belonging to different fraternities.
But what happened to them now? Why is Nahid not in the headlines? Why the likes of Ravish Kumar, Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Datt don’t find it worth commenting on? Is issuing a fatwa against 16-year-old singer not an attack on our democracy and freedom of expression? What do you think Javed Akhtar Sahab?