Controversy’s favourite child, Zaira Wasim strikes again!
Amidst the global pandemic, several areas of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and Maharashtra have been hit by a swarm of locusts. And people have taken to social media to talk about their ominous feelings of Death, Despair and Doom of the coming of a Probable Apocalypse!
So, when the former Bollywood actress Zaira Wasim, posted a tweet quoting a Quran verse to talk about the locust attacks that have been ravaging the country, she received a ton of backlash and hate online. It led to her deleting her tweet as well as her accounts from both Twitter and Instagram!
The deleted tweet read – “So We sent upon them the flood and locusts and lice and frogs and blood: Signs openly self explained: but they were steeped in arrogance- a people given to sin” – Qur’an 7:133”
People felt her tweet was in poor taste and seemed to think that she was insinuating that these locust attacks were a form of divine punishment and justice! Some called her a Hindu Phobe, some felt she should have been more sensitive to the suffering of people because of the locusts, floods, Covid-19 and posted something positive instead.
However, following the deletion of her profiles, some people were quick to jump to her defense, and showed their support – citing her right to freedom of speech. Many felt that there was nothing objectionable about her tweet as she hadn’t contextualized India or any religion in the post.
In fact, social media is buzzing with Biblical references in context to the locust attacks.
If it’s fine for other people to reference Bible verses is Zaira Wasim’s Quran Quoting so wrong? Or is it the Islamophobia talking?
Earlier, to address online hate and trolling – “We remain so unaware of the power of our words, an utter them without giving them an ounce of thought, little it is that we realise that our actions, words and stupid jokes impact people and influence their beliefs about their own esteem and integrity.” – The Secret Superstar actress had shared on social media.
“Not everyone’s born with a thick skin, not everyone can withstand the harsh criticism” – She had written, encouraging people to be more empathetic.
Last year, the Dangal star had announced that she was quitting her film career as she felt it threatened her relationship with her religion. “This field indeed brought a lot of love, support, and applause my way, but what it also did was to lead me to a path of ignorance, as I silently and unconsciously transitioned out of ‘Imaan’.”
She was last seen in ‘The Sky Is Pink’, beside Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar and Rohit Saraf.
#ZairaWasim is trending on Twitter now, after she deleted profiles from both Twitter and Instagram, with half the people trolling and the other half supporting her.