No Muslim cleric can stop Nahid Afrin from singing: BJP

Expressing displeasure over fatwa issued against singer Nahid Afrin by Muslim clerics in Assam, the Bharatiya Janata Party Thursday stated that the Muslim clerics have no authority to issue such a diktat.

"Its absolute wrong, the Muslim clerics have no authority to issue such fatwa. She is a singer by profession and no one can take away that right from her. Even Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal supports her, so then who are these people to issue such allegations on her," Zafar Islam told ANI.

Zafar further stated that Sonowal has not just supported Nahid Afrin but also given orders for the show to continue.

"Sarbananda Sonowal has shown his support for singer Nahid Afrin and also promised to give security to the girl during her concert. Her concern will be addressed and the 46 Muslim clerics who have issued such fatwa should know that they have no authority to do so. the Muslim community should sit, decide and discard this fatwa as soon as possible," said Zafar Islam.

As many as 42 clerics issued a fatwa against reality singing star Nahid Afrin, who was the first runner-up of a musical reality TV show, asking her to stop performing in public.

According to reports, the fatwa has been issued against her keeping in view an upcoming event that was to be held on March 25. Since the venue of the event was in the vicinity of a mosque and a graveyard, the clerics have announced to boycott her singing programmes and have asked her to stop performing in public.

Nahid, made her Bollywood singing debut for actress Sonakshi Sinha in the 2016 movie 'Akira', first rose to stardom after a successful stint on a reality singing show in 2015.