Moeen Ali: England cricketers hit out at writer Taslima Nasreen over now-deleted Isis tweet

Sign up to the Independent's betting newsletter for the latest tips and offers

Sign up to the Independent's betting newsletter

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice

English cricketer Moeen Ali’s teammates have rallied around him after author, physician, and activist Taslima Nasreen targeted him with an offensive tweet.

“If Moeen Ali were not stuck with cricket, he would have gone to Syria to join ISIS”, Taslima said in a tweet that was later deleted by the Bangladeshi-Swedish writer.

Many players from the cricket fraternity have extended their support to Ali since then.

Nottinghamshire cricketer Ben Duckett wrote: “This is the problem with this app. People being able to say stuff like this. Disgusting. Things need to change, please report this account!”

Lancashire County Cricket Club’s Saqib Mahmood wrote: “Can’t believe this. Disgusting tweet. Disgusting individual”

Later, Nasreen posted several Tweet explaining that the “Moeen Ali tweet was sarcastic,” and how everyone made it a big of an issue to “humiliate” her as she tries to “secularize Muslim society and oppose Islamic fanaticism”.

She wrote: “Haters know very well that my Moeen Ali tweet was sarcastic. But they made that an issue to humiliate me because I try to secularize Muslim society & I oppose Islamic fanaticism. One of the greatest tragedies of humankind is pro-women leftists support anti-women Islamists.”

Mahmood reacted back to Nasreen’s tweet expressing that she has “a sick sense of humour”.

In the most recent tweet, Nasreen wrote: “Hundreds of thousands of people brutally abused you. Who are they? They’re the people who are against abuse. But they abused you, how come they are against abuse? They are against abusing Ali, but not against abusing me. Why? -Because Ali is a great man, I’m not. Oh, I see.”

Many more players like Jofra Archer, Sam Billings, and Ryan Sidebottom likewise supported Ali.

Archer wrote: “Are you okay ? I don’t think you’re okay” followed by another response to Nasreen’s tweet calling her out for being “sarcastic”. He wrote: “No one is laughing, not even yourself, the least you can do is delete the tweet.”

Sidebottom likewise commented: “I think you might need to check if you’re feeling ok !!! Maybe delete your account too.”

In the past, Nasreen has suffered plenty of reprisal for her radical opinions on religion. In the Nineties, she had to leave Bangladesh — her country of birth — to live in exile. The public authority of the nation additionally revoked her passport.

Ali on the other hand has helped in raising assets for Gaza relief efforts in the past. In 2014, during a match against India in Southampton, he wore wristbands mentioning the slogans “Free Palestine” and “Save Gaza”, which divided people.