Assam singer: A fatwa that wasn't? Pamphlet was mere appeal says, cleric

After all the outrage that was witnessed over a 'fatwa' issued against a 16-year-old singer in Assam, it has been clarified that the piece of paper that sparked the outrage was a mere appeal by some Muslim clerics and not fatwa as claimed. The general secretary of Assam State Jamiat Ulema, Muhammud Abdur Rashid Kashimi claimed that it was an appeal but was deliberately viewed as a 'fatwa'.

"We did not issue any threat to the singer. We only said that organising such programmes in a Muslim area that is surrounded by mosques, madrassas, the graveyard was against the Sharia," he said. "We perceived that such a programme would vitiate the peaceful atmosphere but some elements tried to give it a different colour," he added. He also added that the pamphlet did not include the singer's name.

Nahid Afrin, 16, a singer from Assam who was in the midst of this controversy had also claimed that she learnt of the 'fatwa' only when her father was informed of it by media personnel. Channels such as NDTV India offered an apology for running the story without verifying. The story created a social media furore after politicians including the Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and celebrities such as singer Vishal Dadlani came out in support of the singer against the 'fatwa', that clerics claim, was never one.

OneIndia News