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From fame to pain, Imam Ghulam Hassan Shah's life comes full circle

Five minutes of fame is now causing acute pain to Imam Ghulam Hassan Shah.

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The imam is seen in the movie solemnising nikah of Gazalla Mir with Khurram Mirparade
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Five minutes of fame is now causing acute pain to Imam Ghulam Hassan Shah.

Fifty-seven year old maulvi, who was sacked for solemnising a reel-life niikah of Tabu with Kay Kay Menon in Vishal Bhardwaj's 'Haider', has now become a pariah in the mosques across the Kashmir valley.

From losing livelihood to earning sobriquet of `Haider Maulvi', Shah, a father of two, is now suffering in silence in the remote Kund-Nigeenpora village of Qazigund in south Kashmir.

The imam is seen in the movie solemnising nikah of Gazalla Mir (Tabu) with Khurram Mir (Kay Kay Menon) after the death of father of protagonist Shahid Kapoor.

"I have suffered humiliation. I was always reciting Quran. But now nobody is ready to offer prayers with me. They are criticising me saying that I am a hero now who has worked in a film. They say I am unfit to lead prayers which is hurting," Shah told dna.

Shah had been working as imam of Masjid Baba Dawood Khaki, Gulshan Mohalla Bachi Darwaza in the sensitive old Srinagar city for seven years and seven months before he was given marching orders for "unislamic act".
Not only has he lost his salary but he also lost his stature in the society which has badly affected his family. "I have lost everything. I was earning Rs 15,000 a month in the mosque. Now I am jobless. I had some land back home but this year the floods ruined the crops. I have nothing to sustain," he lamented.

Shah's elder son is pursuing PhD in Urdu while his daughter is doing graduation. "I have to spend Rs 20,000 on my son's education every month. Where will I get the money from? I have suffered huge losses. I have lost everything," he said.

Shah has sent a legal notice to director Vishal Bhardwaj asking either to apologise or pay Rs 50 lakh as damages for allegedly using the footage "deceitfully". "I am hopeful I will get justice. I was duped. My lawyers are optimistic that justice will be done with me," he said.

The imam said a person from his own mohalla had requested him to educate them about nikah and teachings of Islam. "I did not know that they are making Haider. Neither he told me whether it is a video or film. I did not know. I was kept in dark," he said.

Even his admirers have been demoralised after the Imam fell from the grace. "He commanded a lot of respect. But when he was seen in the film, the Moholla decided to relieve him from his responsibilities", said Fayaz Ahmad Khan, president of the mosque.

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