The Hindu festival of Diwali, which symbolizes the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance was celebrated across the country with much grandeur and devotion. While many celebrities took to their social media accounts to wish citizens a Happy Diwali, the Islamist netizens slammed former Indian cricketer Zaheer Khan for wishing everyone a prosperous Diwali.
Khan on October 24 happened to post a picture on Twitter with his wife, actress Sagarika Ghatge to extend wishes for the ongoing Hindu festival of Diwali. “Happy Diwali from us to you”, he tweeted. The former cricketer was also seen sporting a tilak on his forehead. The Islamist netizens apparently didn’t like the post shared by Khan and schooled him for going against his religion.
One of the users identified as Hani Mirza on Twitter called India an anti-Muslim country while ‘blessing’ the couple. “Bless, I mean I can understand why you posted this picture in an anti-Muslim country, India where you have to live, unfortunately”, he tweeted. Meanwhile, another named Haroon Wani stated that though Muslims can have a love for every religion and zero per cent hate for any particular religion, they can’t celebrate festivals celebrated by other religions.
A Twitter quoted Khan’s tweet and said “shirk”. It is worth noting that idol worshipping or idolatry is considered an unpardonable sin as per Islamic texts and carries strict punishment. The Qur’an considers shirk as a sin that will not be forgiven if a person dies without repenting of it.
Another user shared a quote in which Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan was quoted saying, “Muslims who are opposing Pakistan will spend rest of their lives proving loyalty to India”. The user, who hailed from Pakistan, also termed Jinnah a legend and criticized Khan for wishing everyone on the Hindu festival of Diwali.
Also, one of the users identified as Waleed Afridi on Twitter could be seen attacking the former Indian cricketer on his Diwali post this year. He said that Khan had extended Diwali wishes forcefully to live in India. “Kia kuch kerna phadta hy India ma rehny k liye lol (What all a man has to do to live in India)”, the tweet read which was followed by a hilarious reply by a user who said, “1947 mai train choodni padhti hai (He has to leave the train to Pakistan in 1947)”.
Here are some more tweets by Islamists abusing Khan for wishing on Diwali
It is notable that this is not the first time that the former Indian cricketer is being hated by Muslims for extending wishes on Diwali. Earlier in the year 2019, Khan was abused by radical fundamentalists. Also, recently, cricketer Mohammed Shami was slammed by radical Islamists for extending wishes on the occasion of Dussehra.
Zaheer Khan was a renowned pace bowler in the Indian cricket team. He was one of the world’s finest pacers of his time. His powerful left-arm bowling had consistently challenged several world-class batsmen and played a pivotal role in India’s 2011 world cup victory. The cricketer made his international cricket debut in the year 2000. The left-arm bowler appeared in 92 Tests, 200 ODIs, and 17 T20Is, bagging 311, 282, and 17 wickets, respectively. He also played six One-Day Internationals for Asia XI throughout his international career. Zaheer is the second most successful Indian pacer and the fourth most successful Indian bowler.