Have received threats, but stand by what I said on Tablighi Jamaat members: Babita Phogat

Wrestler-turned-politician Babita Phogat on Friday claimed that she was receiving threats after her recent tweet against the Tablighi Jamaat members, but asserted she was not scared and stood by what she said.

The 30-year-old international wrestler, who joined the BJP last year, said, "In the recent past, I posted some tweets after which many people sent me wrong messages over Facebook messenger, WhatsApp and Twitter and abused me, while some people threatened me over phone."

Phogat she that she was not actor Zaira Wasim that she would feel scared and sit at home.

"I want to tell all these people ... I am not Zaira Wasim that I will feel scared by your threats and sit at home. Your threats will not scare me, I am Babita Phogat and have always fought for my country. I will continue to do so and speak for my nation," she said in a video posted on her Twitter account.

 

Zaira Wasim had made her Bollywood debut with the 2016 sports drama Dangal along with Aamir Khan. She had played the role of Babita's sister, Geeta, in the biopic which was based on the life of Phogat sisters and their father and famous wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat.

The 20-year-old Srinagar-born National Award winning actress announced her decision to quit acting on social media in June last year, saying it interfered with her faith and religion.

Defending her controversial tweet, which was directed at the Tablighi Jamaat members, Phogat said, "In the tweet I posted there was nothing wrong in what I said and I stand by the tweet and will also do so in the future as I wrote about those people who spread coronavirus."

"I want to ask, don't the Tablighi Jamaat members account for maximum cases? Had they not spread the virus, the lockdown would have been lifted by now and coronavirus would have been eradicated.

"Those who have a problem in listening to the truth, they must hear that I will continue to speak and write the truth. If they don't like listening to the truth, then they must either change their habit or get into habit of listening to the truth," said Phogat.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and Haryana's Health Minister Anil Vij also blamed Tablighi Jamaat members for spike in the number of total positive cases which the state has registered.

Of the total 221 positive cases in Haryana that includes 26 foreign nationals, Vij has said that 122 are those of the Jamaat members.

"Had there not been a spike in the number of cases due to the Tablighi Jamaat members, the state would have been in a much better position today as far as the fight against COVID-19 is concerned," Vij had said earlier.