Mufti Abdul Qavi’s memberships in the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf have both been suspended.
A Ruet-e-Hilal Committee cleric who posed for selfies with a controversial model famed for her suggestive photos has been suspended from the group, the country’s religious affairs ministry said, rebuking him for his behavior.
Mufti Abdul Qavi was removed on Wednesday from Pakistan’s moon-sighting committee, which decides when the ongoing holy month of Ramzan begins and ends, according to a notification issued by the ministry and seen by AFP.
The suspension comes after he was widely ridiculed when social media starlet Qandeel Baloch—a deeply polarizing figure in the conservative country—uploaded the pictures earlier this week along with a video of herself with the preacher, wearing his hat and pouting. Baloch, a Kim Kardashian type figure who frequently posts semi-nude selfies, later called Qavi “a blot on the name of Islam” and accused him of inappropriate behavior.
Qavi was also suspended as a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf opposition party, led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, a former socialite who became more religious after his retirement as a sportsman.
“Mufti Qavi’s fate will be decided after the opinion of the [national religious scholars] Council regarding his selfies and behavior,” a spokesman for the ministry told the Dawn daily on Wednesday.
Social media users expressed their amusement over the affair. “Qandeel Baloch for President,” said one on Facebook.
In the video, which was uploaded on Baloch’s Facebook account, Qavi is seen saying he will guide the starlet on religious matters and she had agreed to become his student. He has also said the meeting took place at her request and told AFP on Thursday that she had apologized for the inconvenience caused by the episode.
But Baloch said the cleric had sought her number after the two had appeared on a TV panel together and that he had behaved inappropriately toward her. “I thought I would expose him as he is in reality,” she told AFP, adding: “He is a different person alone and different when he has his followers around him. He is a blot on the name of Islam. Who is he to claim to be a guardian of Islam?”
Though she is reviled by many and frequently subject to misogynist abuse online, Baloch has also won praise by some of the country’s youth for her forthright attitude. On Valentine’s Day, she donned a plunging scarlet dress and posted a video message defying President Mamnoon Hussain, who had issued a stern warning against the “Western” holiday. The post garnered more than 70,000 ‘likes.’