Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen stirred a huge controversy with her comments over England cricketer Moeen Ali. Nasreen claimed that Moeen would've been working for ISIS had he not been playing for the England national cricket team. The statement has been branded 'Islamophobic' by Moeen's father Munir Ali."If Moeen Ali were not stuck with cricket, he would have gone to Syria to join ISIS," Nasreen had first tweeted. She then clarified: "Haters know very well that my Moeen Ali tweet was sarcastic. But they made that an issue to humiliate me because I try to secularize Muslim society & I oppose Islamic fanaticism."Moeen's dad, Munir, said that he is deeply hurt and shocked to see the choice of words made by the author. He also branded her tweet an 'Islamophobic statement'. "I am hurt and shocked to read Taslima Nasreen's vile remark against my son Moeen. In her "clarifying" tweet, where she described her original remark as sarcasm, she also says she stands against fundamentalism,"
Munir was quoted as saying by Indian Express. "If she looks into a mirror, she will know what she tweeted is what is fundamentalist - a vicious stereotype against a Muslim person, a clearly Islamophobic statement. Someone who doesn't have self-respect and respect for others can only stoop to this level. "Truth be told, I am really angry, but I know I would be playing into the hands of people like her if I let my rage get out of control. If I get to meet her someday, I will tell what I really think of her on her face. For now, I would ask her to pick a dictionary and see the meaning of sarcasm."It's not what she thinks it is. It's not spewing vile poisonous stuff against someone you don't even know and then retracting it by saying it was sarcasm. Of all the people to pick on for her agenda, I can't believe she has chosen my son. Everyone in the cricketing world knows the person he is," he added. Moeen Ali’s England teammate Jofra Archer too came down heavily on Nasreen after she defended her previous tweet about Ali. Moeen is a superstar of English cricket, Having won the 2019 ICC World Cup with England, the spin-bowling all-rounder has now set sights on winning the Indian Premier League (IPL) title with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2021 season.
