New Delhi: Author Taslima Nasreen has sparked a controversy with her derogatory tweet on England Cricketer Moeen Ali, who has asked his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to remove alcohol brand from his jersey. While Moeen’s teammates came out in support of the allrounder, Nasreen wasn’t too impressed with the Englishman.
In a post over on Twitter, which has gone massively viral on the platform, Taslima Nasreen said that “if Ali was not a cricketer, he would have joined ISIS.”
“If Moeen Ali were not stuck with cricket, he would have gone to Syria to join ISIS,” Nasreen tweeted. However, the Bangladeshi-Swedish writer later deleted the post after receiving a lot of backlash for it.
HERE IS THE DELETED POST:
Reacting to this post, other England cricketers like Jofra Archer, Sam Billings, Saqib Mahmood, Ben Duckett, etc came out in support of Ali and lashed out at Nasreen for her distasteful comment.
Archer reacted to the 58-year-old’s post on Twitter and said, “Are you okay ? I don’t think you’re okay”.
Are you okay ? I don’t think you’re okay https://t.co/rmiFHhDXiO
— Jofra Archer (@JofraArcher) April 6, 2021
Meanwhile, Saqib Mahmood tweeted: “Can’t believe this. Disgusting tweet. Disgusting individual”.
Can’t believe this. Disgusting tweet. Disgusting individual https://t.co/g8O1MWyR81
— Saqib Mahmood (@SaqMahmood25) April 6, 2021
“Please everyone report taslimas account! Disgusting!” England batsman Sam Billings said.
Please everyone report taslimas account! Disgusting!
— Sam Billings (@sambillings) April 6, 2021
This is the problem with this app. People being able to say stuff like this. Disgusting. Things need to change, please report this account! https://t.co/uveSFqbna0
— Ben Duckett (@BenDuckett1) April 6, 2021
Taslima Nasreen, however, did post a clarification tweet afterwards saying that her post was actually “sarcastic” after it got massive backlash on social media.
“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. One of the greatest tragedies of humankind is pro-women leftists support anti-women Islamists,” Taslima said in a tweet.
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. One of the greatest tragedies of humankind is pro-women leftists support anti-women Islamists.
— taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) April 6, 2021
HERE’S THE REACTIONS:
Sarcastic? You have a sick sense of humour https://t.co/u4KnIB1I7w
— Saqib Mahmood (@SaqMahmood25) April 6, 2021
Sarcastic ? No one is laughing , not even yourself , the least you can do is delete the tweet https://t.co/Dl7lWdvSd4
— Jofra Archer (@JofraArcher) April 6, 2021
Moeen Ali was bought in by CSK for INR 7 crore in the IPL 2021 players’ auction held in February 2021. IPL 2021 will kick off with a royal clash between defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Chepauk in Chennai on April 9.