Dangal actress Zaira Wasim has quit Twitter and Instagram after receiving criticism for her insensitive post insinuating that the locust attack in Rajasthan is Allah’s wrath. It’s not clear whether she has left the social media platforms temporarily or for good. She, however, remains active on Facebook. Zaira Wasim is the actress from Dangal who had earlier ‘quit’ acting because she believed her profession was taking her ‘away from Islam’.
Quoting a verse from Quran the former actor said, “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.” Needless to say, the remarkably insensitive and bigoted tweet attracted a lot of criticism from people on social media. Netizens slammed Zaira Wasim for her ridiculous tweet and criticised her for her outrageous insensitivity.
Locust swarms in Pakistan since November
Several areas of Eastern Africa and Pakistan have been facing locust attacks for the last several months. Several areas of Sindh, including Karachi, have been facing attacks by massive swarms of locusts since November. These locust swarms had affected border areas in Gujarat in February too. Recently, such locust swarms have been seen in parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh too. However, it is not understood why the former actress is insinuating these locust attacks as some sort of Islamic curse upon a specific group of people whom she refers to as ‘arrogant’.
Zaira Wasim on Social Media
Zaira Wasim is known to make ostentatious remarks on social media. In February, she had claimed that Kashmiris ‘continue to suffer’ following the abrogation of Article 370. While indulging in fear-mongering, she claimed that they were being ‘oppressed’. Recently, she had urged her fans on social media to ‘stop praising’ her because the praise endangers her ‘Iman’.
Update: Zaira Wasim re-activates Twitter and Instagram accounts
Later in the day, Zaira Wasim came back on Twitter. Responding to a tweet asking why had deactivated her account, she said that she had just taken a break.
She said, “Because I’m just a human, like everyone else, who’s allowed to take a break from everything whenever the noise inside my head or around me reaches it’s peak.”
Similar, she reactivated her Instagram account also.