Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen courted another controversy after she said on Monday that English cricketer and CSK player Moeen Ali would have strayed away to become an ISIS terrorist had he not stuck to cricket.
Nasreen’s acerbic comment came in the wake of several reports that claimed England all-rounder Moeen Ali had requested his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to remove the logo of an alcohol brand from his jersey.
Taking to Twitter, Taslima said, “If Moeen Ali were not stuck with cricket, he would have gone to Syria to join ISIS.”
Taslima Nasreen’s tweet on Moeen Ali sparks outrage on social media
Nasreen’s tweet sparked an outrage on the internet, with many cricketers and prominent personalities reacting to the Bangladeshi author’s tweet for her controversial post on the English cricketer.
Cricketer Jofra Archer hit back at Taslima, questioning her if she is okay. “Are you okay? I don’t think you’re okay,” the fast-bowler tweeted.
Are you okay ? I don’t think you’re okay https://t.co/rmiFHhDXiO
— Jofra Archer (@JofraArcher) April 6, 2021
Another cricketer Ben Duckett also expressed his disgust with the tweet, asking people to report the account.
“This is the problem with this app. People being able to say stuff like this. Disgusting. Things need to change, please report this account!” Duckett tweeted while quoting Taslima Nasreen’s tweet on Moeen Ali.
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
Not just crickets but others were also outraged by the tweet.
Disgraceful. And the follow up to trying to justify this tweet as sarcastic is outright stupid. Surely there are better ways to make a point than to attack a decent man on the basis of his religion. You should be ashamed @taslimanasreen https://t.co/s8N2xhpNZG
— Raunak Kapoor (@RaunakRK) April 6, 2021
Ms Nasreen needs psychiatric deconstruction for her amazing capacity for catatonic extrapolation ☺️ @kavita_krishnan https://t.co/on2i0WAtgC
— Madhavan Narayanan (@madversity) April 6, 2021
A barrage of online criticism and abuses were directed at Taslima after she insinuated that Moeen Ali would have joined ISIS were it not for cricket.
However, Nasreen, defending herself, said that her tweet on Moeen Ali was sarcastic and her detractors used it to target her.
“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,” Nasreen said in a subsequent tweet.
CSK CEO quashes reports of Moeen Ali asking the franchisee to remove logo of an alcohol brand from his jersey
Earlier on Sunday, several reports emerged that claimed that England all-rounder Moeen Ali had requested his IPL franchisee to remove an alcohol brand name from his team jersey. The reports claimed Ali, who doesn’t drink or promote alcohol, had asked for the logo of SNJ 10000 to be taken off from his shirt.
SNJ 10000 is a beer brand of the Chennai-based SNJ Distilleries, one of the sponsors of Chennai Super Kings. CSK had recently unveiled their new jersey for the upcoming season which also sports a camouflage as a mark of tribute to the Indian armed forces.
However, a day later, CSK CEO Kasi Vishwanathan quashed the reports, claiming that no such request was made by the England all-rounder.
