Dangal star Zaira Wasim spars with sports min Vijay Goel for his hijab tweet

It all began with a tweet late on Thursday from Goel, a senior leader of the ruling BJP, that showed him in what appeared to be an art gallery, standing before a painting that showed two women – one in a hijab and another cowering in a cage.

Updated on: Jan 21, 2017, 16:21:16 IST

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By Rezaul H Laskar

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Dangal star Zaira Wasim, at the centre of a controversy over her meeting with chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, on Friday took exception to sports minister Vijay Goel likening her experiences to that of a Muslim woman breaking free of the veil and societal restrictions.

Zaira Wasim (R) earned the anger of social media trolls for meeting Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti earlier this month. (PTI)

It all began with a tweet late on Thursday from Goel, a senior leader of the ruling BJP, that showed him in what appeared to be an art gallery, standing before a painting that showed two women – one in a hijab and another cowering in a cage.

“This painting tells a story similar to @zairawasim. Pinja torh kar hamari betiyan barhne lagi hai aage (Our daughters are breaking out of their cages and moving forward.) More power to our daughters!” Goel wrote.

Wasim’s riposte came in a set of tweets on Friday. She told Goel he should not have connected her to “such a discourteous depiction”. She also said that women in hijab are “beautiful and free”.

“Moreover, the story depicted through this painting is not even remotely relevant to mine,” she said.

Goel replied to her tweets, saying she had wrongly interpreted his tweets. He said he appreciated Wasim’s work and wanted to discourage “evil and patriarchal notions”.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More