Bengali film actress and All-India Trinamool Congress MP Nusrat Jahan came under fire for participating in the Durga puja celebrations on 7th October in Calcutta. The star-MP was seen singing hymns and dancing to the tune of bhajans during puja celebrations in Calcutta. A Deoband-based Muslim cleric slammed Nusrat for her “un-Islamic” behaviour. Mufti Asad Qasmi, vice president of Ittehad Ulema-i-Hind, said that her action had brought a bad name to Islam and that by doing what she had done, she was defaming Muslims and their religion. He further said that it was clearly mentioned in Islam that a Muslim can worship only one God and no other entity. He added that by flouting this fundamental tenet, Nusrat Jahan had brought a bad name to Islam. He concluded that it would be better if Nusrat Jahan changed her name and religion, reminding people that on earlier occasions too, she had celebrated puja and thereby acted in a sinful (haraam) way.
On her part, Nusrat said, she liked the idea of celebrating all festivals together. The actress was in the line of fire of several Muslim hardliners earlier this year for marrying entrepreneur Nikhil Jain, outside her religion. She was similarly criticised for wearing a sari and sindoor as also a mangalsutra in her neck when she took oath as an MP. Nusrat Jahan has always said that she believed in an inclusive India which was beyond barriers of caste and creed and religion.