Explained | The Taslima Nasreen-Moeen Ali controversy

A now deleted tweet has sparked a lot of controversy on Twitter

Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has come under fire after posting a controversial tweet about cricketer Moeen Ali.

The author, who is known for her writing's on women's oppression, and open criticism of Islam, stated on Twitter, "If Moeen Ali had not stuck to cricket he would have gone to Syria to join ISIS."

Source: Twitter Photo/@Nikhilreturns

After having deleted the tweet, the author took to Twitter again to issue a clarification. She claimed that her remarks were sarcastic and that an issue was made about her tweets to "humiliate her" because she tries to make "Muslim society more secular."

The author's tweet came in the wake of several reports stating that Moeen Ali, who is playing for Chennai Super Kings in the upcoming IPL, asked for the logo of an alcohol brand to be from his jersey. However, the reports were later quashed by CSK CEO Kasi Vishwanathan.

The now-deleted tweet received a lot of backlash from people including but not limited to previous and current players of the England Cricket Team.

In response to the tweet, England's pacer Jofra Archer wrote, "Are you okay ? I don’t think you’re okay." He further went and commented on the author's clarification tweet to say "No one is laughing , not even yourself."

Another cricketer Ben Duckett also expressed his disgust with the tweet, asking people to report the account

Former England pacer Ryan Sidebottom said that she should delete her account.

Moeen Ali's father, Munir Ali, spoke to Indian Express and said that he was "hurt and shocked" at the tweets of the author. He called her statement Islamophobic and said that "someone who doesn’t have self-respect and respect for others can only stoop to this level." He also explained how Moeen has been facing backlash and criticism on the basis of his religion and beard for a long time in the sport; some of which have even cost him opportunities. But his father said that Moeen Ali was always his own person, and would rather leave the sport, than give up any part of his religion as that is a big part of his identity.

Moeen Ali will debut for Chennai Super Kings in the upcoming Indian Premier League. He was bought by the team for a whopping Rs 7 crore at the IPL 2021 auction.