“In my religion, worship is not allowed. The Quran also states this. I went to Ganesh Puja for the first time. I was targeted because I am a Muslim. If anyone abuses me to my face, I will slit his throat.”
These are the words of TV actor Aly Goni, who kicked up a storm recently after a video of him remaining silent at Ganesha Puja while his non-Muslim girlfriend vigorously chanting ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya’ had gone viral on social media. But his explanation following the controversy nevertheless reflects the mindset of Islamic fundamentalism and how it affects someone as privileged and entitled as Goni, who rose to fame with the MTV dating reality show Splitsvilla Season 5.
In a video that has gone viral, Aly avoids chanting “Ganpati Bappa Morya” even as people around him, including his non-Muslim girlfriend, enthusiastically chants praises to Lord Ganesha. When cornered over the mater, he claims Islam does not permit him to say such things.
The episode begins in Mumbai at the house of Ankita Lokhande and her husband Vicky, where Ganesh Puja was being celebrated. A video from this event surfaced, in which Aly’s girlfriend Jasmin Bhasin is seen chanting “Ganpati Bappa Morya.” Meanwhile, Aly Goni stands silently nearby, his facial expressions showing neither respect nor reverence.
As the video goes viral, people object to Aly’s silence. Instead of addressing it, he plays the ‘victim’ card in a podcast with FilmyGyan: “I didn’t say it because I was worried something wrong might slip out of my mouth. These ‘red-flag’ social media pages are threatening me with FIRs and death threats.”
So listen, Aly Goni—it’s fine for you to call them ‘red-flag pages,’ but is your aversion so deep that you cannot even take the name of a Hindu deity? On one hand, he calls himself secular in the podcast: “I have love for every religion in my heart.” On the other hand, he preaches Islamic doctrine — “In Islam, worship is not allowed.”
Going further into a hardline mindset, Aly even threatens his critics with death: “If anyone abuses me in front of me, I will slit his throat and cut off his legs and hand them back to him.” This is exactly the mental framework of typical Islamist extremism.
Aly Goni is fine with girlfriend wearing an abaya
Amid this controversy, an old video of Jasmin Bhasin went viral, where she is seen wearing an abaya inside Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Aly Goni claims that after this video, people called him a “love jihadi” and “terrorist.”
Defending himself in the podcast, Aly says: “Jasmin had gone to promote Abu Dhabi tourism, and the rule there is you cannot enter a mosque without wearing an abaya.”
The hypocrisy of ‘secular’ Aly Goni
The real question is: if his non-Muslim girlfriend Jasmin can wear an abaya to enter a mosque, then why does Aly Goni hesitate to chant Ganpati Bappa Morya? Is his secularism limited only to promoting his religion while avoiding any respect for Hindu traditions?
Here Aly’s hypocrisy is evident. For ‘secular’ Aly, mosque rules are sacred, but when it comes to Ganesh Puja, he makes faces, remains silent, and even chews gum. Bravo, Mr. Aly—so this is your secularism!
Aly Goni is a Muslim, and his girlfriend Jasmin Bhasin is Sikh. Yet when both attend Ganesh Puja, Jasmin has no hesitation in chanting praises to Lord Ganesha. But Aly remains silent. This is the duplicity of Islamic fundamentalists and Aly Goni is no exception. He won’t respect another faith but is comfortable making his girlfriend comply with mosque traditions.
When accused of love jihad, Aly even goes as far as issuing death threats to online critics. Is this not Islamic extremism? This is the same ideology that Islamist radicals follow—converting girlfriends into Islam is the same pattern seen in Love Jihad cases.
The ‘secularism’ that Aly Goni claims to stand for means respect for all religions. But his mindset clearly shows that for him it is just a facade. The truth is, he tries to insult Hindu sentiments while portraying himself as a victim. Indians have now understood that those who wear the mask of ‘secularism’ to disrespect Hindu festivals will no longer be spared.
