A Muslim cleric from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has issued a fatwa, an Islamic legal decree, against Amjad Khan, the director of a film about Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by Taliban militants at the age of 14.
A poster for the film “Gul Makai” shows a girl holding a burning book in her hands with an explosion coming out of it. The cleric alleged that the book in question is the Quran, which means, per him, that the poster is against Islam and that the movie is showing their holy text as well as their religion in a "bad light".
“Darul Ifta Jama Masjid Mufti issues a fatwa against H.E Amjad Khan, the director of the Bollywood movie Gul Makai. The poster of the movie shows a girl holding a book and the book is Quran, hence it is against Islam and showing their religion in bad light”, a letter issued by the Mosque read.
Speaking to Sputnik, the director of the film rubbished reports of filing any police complaint, saying:
“The cleric is the victim of misconception. He is a religious scholar, he is thinking that the lead actress, who is depicting Malala in the film, is holding a Quran in her hands. He is assuming that because of his prejudice and because the protagonist of the film is a Muslim, she will only hold the Quran. The film is about girls child education, he is unable to understand this. This is not a dignified move, but I will try to talk to him and will send him a letter", he added.
Khan denied taking any legal action against the cleric as he doesn’t want him to land in legal trouble.
The movie, slated for release on 31 January, tells the story of Malala Yousafzai, a 22-year-old woman who became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for campaigning for girls' education rights in 2014.