Dangal actor Zaira Wasim wrote a detailed Facebook post to announce her retirement from Bollywood. In her post, she claimed that the film industry consistently interfered with her imaan and her relationship with her religion was threatened. She said that she wasn’t truly happy with her line of work despite her fame and success. 

Here six-page letter is available on her Instagram handle.

This didn't go down well with many people on social media and some pointed out that she shouldn't have brought religion to justify her decision to quit Bollywood and insult other people who work in the industry.

Jammu and Kashmir Police officer Imtiyaz Hussain tweeted, "Respect choice of Zaira Wasim quitting acting in movies but she can’t invoke religion and faith to justify this. Are others in the field some kind of sinners? This dawning of new reality should be her own truth & her own interpretation of religion. Period."

Former CM of J&K Omar Abdullah supported her decision and tweeted, "Who are any of us to question ZairaWasimmm’s choices? It’s her life to do with as she pleases. All I will do is wish her well & hope that whatever she does makes her happy."

Her Manager claimed her account was hacked

Wasim’s manager, Tuhin Mishra had told media houses that the news about Wasim quitting Bollywood was “incorrect” and that her social media accounts had been hacked.  Mishra’s agency Baseline Venture has managed Wasim’s Bollywood career for the last three years.

NewX Report

Following the reports of her account being hacked, Zaira took to Twitter and clarified that her social media accounts were fine and never hacked.

Later on, ANI quoted Tuhin Mishra, manager of Zaira Wasim, "We have never said that her account was hacked. We just said that we would definitely like to know what has happened. And the post was done by her".

Comparison to Nusrat Jahan's choice to wear Sindoor

Senior editor of The Wire, Arfa Khanum Sherwani compared her decision with Nusrat Jahan's decision to wear Sindoor and Bindi. Her tweet reads, "Zaira Wasim ‘s decision to dissociate with film industry (‘because it interferes with her faith’) should be understood and respected as much as Nusrat Jahan’s Sindoor-Bindi. That did not make Nusrat immoral as this does not make Zaira more moral. *Freedom to choose is supreme*".

Zainab Sikander tweeted "So Nusrat Jahan wears sindoor, it's her choice. Zaira Wasim quits films and it's not her choice? Oh no it's Islam again? Hypocrites!"

Comparison to Vinod Khanna's decision to pursue spirituality

Ashish Joshi tweeted, "Vinod Khanna a BJP MP quitting Bollywood to become a monk is a great leap into spirituality, but Zaira Wasim quitting Bollywood is regressive."

However, such comparisons hardly make any sense. For example, Vinod Khanna didn't claim that Bollywood interferes in his religion. Instead, he silently moved to Oregon to join spiritual Guru Osho Rajneesh as his disciple.

Similarly, Nusrat Jahan decision to wear Sindoor or Bindi was restricted to herself while Zaira Wasim literally called every Muslim working in Bollywood immoral. Clearly, these two can't be compared.

Conclusion:  Quitting Bollywood is just like quitting a job. It's her decision and must be respected but the issue here is not that she quit Bollywood. The issue, instead, is the fact that she cited religion as the reason.