Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman was recently criticised for allegedly “forcing” his daughter Khatija to wear a niqaab at an event. And now recently shared a post on Twitter, which appears to be his response to the trolls. Sharing a picture of his wife Sairaa Banu and daughters Khatija and Raheema with Nita Ambani and wrote, “The precious ladies of my family with Nita Ambani ji”, and added the hashtag “#freedomtochoose”. In the photo, Banu has covered her head with a dupatta, Khatija wore a niqaab but Raheema did not.
A couple of days ago, at an event in Mumbai to celebrate 10 years of 'Slumdog Millionaire', Khatija was invited on to the stage to speak about her father and his achievements, following which the internet bashed Rahman for making his daughter wear the niqaab. However, later in a lengthy Facebook post shared on an unverified account purporting to be Khatija's, she said that contrary to the claims made by trolls that her father has “double standards”, wearing a niqaab was “her personal choice” and “the choices she makes in her life do not have anything to do with her parents.”
The post read, “The recent conversation of myself on stag with my dad has been doing the rounds, although I didn't expect such an overwhelming response. However, there were certain comments which said that this attire is being forced by my dad and that he has double standards. I would like to say that the attire I wear or the choices I make in my life does not have anything to do with my parents. The veil has been my personal choice with complete acceptance and honour.”
"I'm a sane mature adult who knows to make my choices in life. Any human being has a choice to wear or do what he/she wants and that's what I've been doing. Hence, kindly don't make your own judgements without understanding the exact situation #FreedomOfChoice," read the concluding part of the post.
