TMC lawmaker Nusrat Jahan responds to cleric, who termed her action as “anti-Islamic” and accused her of bringing a bad name to the religion.
The first-time MP from Bashirhat here on Monday said that the cleric had no right to ask her to change her name.
“Those who have not given me my name…do not have any right to ask me to change it.”
‘Portraying Harmony’
Speaking to reporters after offering the puja, Jahan said she offered prayers to Goddess Durga to promote religious harmony. “I think I have my own way of portraying harmony towards all religions. Born and brought up in Bengal, I feel I am doing right by following culture and tradition. Here, we celebrate all the religious festivities,” she said when asked about her choice to perform puja despite being a Muslim.
The cleric also urged Jahan to change her name.
“Islam does not allow its followers to pray before any other God other than the almighty Allah. Nusrat Jahan has performed puja which is totally anti-Islamic. She is not practising Islam. She even married a non-Muslim. Since she does not believe in the Islam, she should change her name. Why is she insulting the Islam?” Mufti Asad Kasmi, vice-president of Itehaad Ulema-e-Hind, told ANI here.
The cleric further said, “The Islam does not need any person who bears an Islamic name but actually defames the Islam.”
Nusrat Jahan stoked a controversy when she married a non-Muslim businessman, Nikhil Jain, in June this year.