Shakib denies inaugurating Kali Puja

Bangladesh cricketer Shakib Al Hasan in a video on his YouTube channel yesterday denied that he had inaugurated a Kali Puja mandap on his recent trip to Kolkata.

Shakib went to Kolkata last Thursday for business purposes and was then pictured at a Kali Puja festival in Kolkata's Kakurgachi area.

Rumours then started circulating on social media that Shakib had inaugurated the puja, and that drew some backlash. The most extreme reaction came from a Facebook live video early Sunday morning by a Sylhet user brandishing a sharp weapon and saying Shakib must be killed for "hurting Muslims' feelings".

Yesterday evening in the video on his YouTube channel, Shakib said he had attended a programme adjacent to the venue of the puja and he had to get past the mandap in order to get into his car. He explained that he had been invited to take a picture, which was now being taken out of context.

"The place where we had our gathering was definitely not the puja mandap, it was an adjacent stage. I was there for 30-40 minutes and we did not speak about religion at the time. When we had concluded, I had to get in the car but some of the roads were closed.

"So, I had to take the road through the mandap and I did that. Then the person who invited me made a request, so I lit a candle. Because I have played for Kolkata [Knight Riders in the IPL] for a long time, their journalists were very excited. So, because of everyone's request, I stood there and took a picture," Shakib said in the video, and went as far as reading the part of his invitation card that mentioned the name of the man who actually inaugurated the puja.

"I would like to first say that I am a proud Muslim. I was at our programme and I want to say again that we did not talk about religion. Those two minutes at the mandap are now being shown. As a practising Muslim, I would never take part in the puja.

"If you think that my going there was wrong, then I am very sad and apologetic and I hope you can forgive it and I will try not to repeat such things in the future," Shakib said in the video.

Meanwhile, police in Sylhet are looking for the man who threatened to kill Shakib in a Facebook live video posted at 12:07am on Sunday.

BM Ashraf Ullah, additional deputy commissioner (media relations) of Sylhet Metropolitan Police, said, "We just got the video link and forwarded it over to the cyber forensic unit. We are looking for the man and he will be dealt with according to law."