P Pavan (BOMBAY TIMES; February 16, 2018)

Hyderabad’s Jamia Nizamia Seminary has issued a fatwa seeking the removal of the song “Manikya Malaraya Poovi” from Malayalam film Oru Adaar Love before its release, urging concerned authorities to look into the matter.

The fatwa comes after engineering student Muqeeth Khan and his friends from Old City lodged a complaint with the Falaknuma police against the film’s producer alleging that the song, which went viral online a few days ago with millions of videos across social media, hurts their religious sentiments.

“Our objection is not with the film, but with the song which has references to Prophet Mohammed and his wife Khadijah Bibi. The director should have used some other characters to depict the love. Why should he take the name of the Prophet?” Jamia Nizamia secretary Ahmed Ali argued.
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MEANWHILE...Kerala CM defends song

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday defended filmmaker Omar Lulu after a police case was registered against him in Hyderabad for hurting religious sentiments of Muslims.

Vijayan noted in a Facebook post that fundamentalists and communalists are always against arts and literature. “In this context we should always stand with artists and writers. The latest controversy is another instance of intolerance of fundamentalist elements towards artistic freedom and ideas,” he added.

Meanwhile, Omar Lulu has been reported as saying that the song would not be removed from the film or be taken down from YouTube. –Gladwin Emmanuel