Zaira Wasim and Tarek Fatah get into War of Words over Controversial Locust Attack Tweet

Former actress Zaira Wasim stirred up a storm on the Internet with her latest tweet justifying the locust swarms attacks. She used a verse from the holy Quran as a reference to ‘locust attack’ and related it to people’s arrogance. 

Her tweet read: “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 -Qur’an 7:133” (sic)

Her controversial tweet did not go down well with many people and she faced massive backlash for the same. Upset with the brutal trolling, Zaira deleted her Twitter and Instagram account for a day.

But now that she is back on Twitter, she hit back at Tarek Fatah’s tweet against her. For the unaware, Tarek, a Canadian journalist, mocked the former actress in a tweet and wrote: “Indian Muslim actress @ZairaWasimmm mocks her own countrymen as being victims of Allah’s wrath. This is how she explains locust swarm.”

Zaira replied to Tarek’s tweet with a long post. She began the note by writing, “Asalamualaykum Uncle Fateh” and stated that she never claimed that the locust attacks in multiple states of the country were a sign of God’s wrath. 

“While I too agree making claims like `this is wrath or a curse’ when the world is going through so much is a really insensitive one, I wish to also emphasise that making a claim on our own as big as It’s a wrath or curse of Allah upon any land* is a statement one is making on behalf of Allah, which is actually a religiously irresponsible one and a sin and also a claim I never made, let alone mock anyone,” she wrote.

Zaira asserted that her tweet was misinterpreted. “My tweet was completely taken out of context and blown out of proportion and none of the opinions, whether good or bad, define the reality of my intentions, for that is between me and My Rabb, and something which I’m not even going to explain, for I’m only accountable to Allah and not His creation,” she added. 

“The world is going through a tough time and a lot of hatred and bigotry already, the least we could do is not add more to it,” she wrote.

Zaira ended her tweet by writing, “P.S I am not an actress anymore.”

Meanwhile, it’s been a year since Zaira Wasim had taken the whole film industry and fans by shock when she suddenly announced her disassociation from films saying she was not happy with the line of work citing that it interfered with her faith and religion. She had made her decision public and shared a long detailed note on her social media. While some head honcho’s from the industry respected her decision and showed support, some others criticized her for letting go of the golden chance.

Zaira was last seen in the film, The Sky is Pink, opposite Priyanka Chopra, and Farhan Akhtar. While she may be away from the movies, she often makes headlines for her controversial tweets.