Samay Raina's 'cousin is her husband' joke on contestant Salma Deewani stirs controversy; Maulana Khalil Rahman Noori says, 'This is wrong'

Samay Raina’s India’s Got Latent Season 2’s new episode dropped on Friday on Netflix India. The guests on the panel were Ashish Solanki, Samay Raina, Huma Qureshi, Krushna Abhishek and Balraj. This time, Samay roasted Huma over her film Toxic’s debacle. In fact, some of the contestants also took a dig at Toxic’s box-office failure. Overall, this episode was a mixed package of humour, emotions and some below-the-belt, crass digs.

However, a contestant named Salma Deewani from Hyderabad might land IGL in controversy. Her interaction with Samay and his responses have irked netizens.

While talking to Salma, aka Bhagyashree Tarke, Samay asked her if someone had come with her. She said that she had come to Mumbai alone, but a cousin who stays here had accompanied her. Huma Qureshi, who was also a part of the panel, asked her, “Which cousin?” Samay replied, “Husband honge.”

Now, this statement by Samay has not gone down well with many people on social media, and he is facing backlash for it. Even All India Sunni Jamiat Ulama secretary Maulana Khalil Rahman Noori told IANS, “Morally speaking, this is wrong. I don’t think it’s right. He shouldn’t have passed the comment like this. It is her personal matter with whom she has come and with whom she has not come. To say that she has come with her husband or someone else, that is not right. This is wrong.”

Noori further said, “A trend has emerged in the name of publicity: first, do something controversial, then face a case, apologise afterwards and finally get the matter settled.”

Many reports state that Huma felt uncomfortable when Samay cracked the husband joke. She did not react, but her expressions had a different story to tell. Samay has not yet reacted to the controversy.

This is not the first time Samay and IGL have landed in controversy. Season 1 of the show faced a major controversy after a remark by Ranveer Allahbadia about a contestant’s parents did not go down well with people. FIRs were filed against Samay, Ranveer and others who were part of the episode.

In Season 2, one of the episodes featuring Sharon Verma also made headlines for the wrong reasons. Samay made a remark about her being a Bihari and shifting to Mumbai. She later responded with a statement referencing the comedian’s Kashmiri identity and the 1990s Kashmiri Pandit exodus.