Zaira Wasim reacts to 'locust controversy'; says she is not an actress anymore

Former Bollywood actor Zaira Wasim courted controversy after she tweeted a verse from the Quran that many people said justifies the locust attacks in various states across the country. "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)," Zaira had said in a now deleted post.

She was criticised by social media users for her insensitivity towards those affected by the locust attacks, which led her to deactivate both her Twitter and Instagram accounts. The former actor, however, made a comeback on social media.

Now, reacting to Canadian journalist Tarek Fatah's tweet in which he said, "Indian Muslim actress @ZairaWasimmm mocks her own countrymen as being victims of Allah’s wrath. This is how she explains locust swarm,” Zaira claimed that her "tweet was completely taken out of context and blown out of proportion."

“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.

“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,” Zaira wrote, adding “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."

"Let us not keep resorting to escape or avoidance but instead keep challenging our thinking, keep confronting and re-examing biased beliefs," Zaira further wrote.

She ended the note saying: "P.S. I am not an actress anymore."