‘I’m no Zaira Wasim’: Babita Phogat defends tweet against Tablighi Jamaatis

Wrestler and BJP politician Babita Phogat kicked up a storm on social media on Friday with her tweets targeted towards Tablighi Jamaatis, holding them responsible for the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

In a derogatory tweet in Hindi, Babita had said that the coronavirus pandemic was only India’s second concern as the Muslim sect was the first problem.

The tweet was not well-received by users and Babita was targeted on social media, and the hashtag #suspendbabitaphogat started trending. Meanwhile, another section of users have supported her. Responding to the reaction to her controversial remarks, Babita said she stood by what she has tweeted.  "I stand by my tweets, I wrote nothing wrong," she told ANI.

In a video posted on Twitter, she said: "Over the past few days, I posted a few tweets (on Tablighi Jamaat). After that, I started getting threats on my social media handles. I would like to say that I am no Zaira Wasim. I would not get threatened.... I have always fought for my country. I stand by my tweets.... I wrote nothing wrong.” In the video, she defended her remarks against Tablighi Jamaat members.

The Tablighi Jamaat sect’s Nizamuddin event last month had turned into the country’s largest coronavirus hotspot, with attendees being quarantined and testing positive in states across the country. The state governments had conducted a massive operation to trace them.

Actress Zaira Wasim essayed Babita’s sister Geeta, in Dangal—the film based on the life of the Phogat sisters and their father Mahavir Singh Phogat. Zaira had triggered controversy last year after she announced her exit from Bollywood because the work interfered with her religion. “This field indeed brought a lot of love, support, and applause my way, but what it also did was to lead me to a path of ignorance, as I silently and unconsciously transitioned out of imaan (faith). While I continued to work in an environment that consistently interfered with my imaan, my relationship with my religion was threatened,” Zaira had written in a lengthy Instagram post.