BHOPAL: A Diwali photo post by Bollywood actor Kareena Kapoor Khan has turned into a legal dispute.
Abbas Hafeez, the Bhopal-based national media convener of the Congress (in his personal capacity), has sent a legal notice to actor Kareena Kapoor Khan and her stylist, Rhea Kapoor. He objects to a heritage pendant, set with a large emerald and inscribed with a Quranic verse, that Kareena wore in her Diwali pictures.
The notice is dated November 11 and was sent through Hafeez’s lawyer, Mohammad Zafar. It asks that the photographs and videos showing the pendant be taken down from social media.
It also asks for a public apology to the Muslim community. The lawyer has said the notice is a demand for removal and that police or court action could follow if it is ignored, depending on the remedies available.
The ornament is described as roughly 200 years old, with an emerald of about 30 carats. It is said to have come from the household of the former Begums of Bhopal and to have been passed down through the family to Kareena through her marriage into the Pataudi family. The inscription is Ayat-ul-Kursi, a verse many Muslims hold in particular reverence.
The pendant has a historical connection to Bhopal’s erstwhile royal family through Kareena Kapoor Khan’s husband, Saif Ali Khan. Saif’s paternal grandmother, Sajida Sultan, was the daughter of Hamidullah Khan, the last Nawab of Bhopal.
She married Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, and their son, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, was Saif’s father. The family heirloom is believed to have been passed down through generations before eventually coming into Saif’s possession and later being worn by Kareena.
The images came to wider notice through an Instagram post by Rhea Kapoor, who styled the look. Some users objected online before the legal step was taken.
Hafeez has described the objection as narrow. According to his notice, he has no quarrel with Kareena’s clothes, her personal taste or her freedom to wear jewellery. His complaint is about how a sacred inscription was presented as a fashion accessory in a festive social media post.
The notice stated, “My client clarifies that he does not seek to comment on or control either person's general clothing, personal choices or freedom to wear jewellery".
However, his specific concern is that, when wearing and publicly presenting an item bearing Ayat-ul-Kursi, the overall presentation—including the attire in which it is displayed and the manner and context of the social-media post—should, in his view, reflect the reverence due to a sacred Quranic inscription.
He considers that the attire and manner of presentation in the posts concerned did not demonstrate that level of reverence. This objection is confined to the presentation of this sacred pendant and is not a general comment on either person's dress or lifestyle.
“Islamic scholars have expressed reservations about wearing Quranic verses as jewellery. Their guidance emphasises preserving the sanctity of such inscriptions and avoiding circumstances in which they may be treated disrespectfully; some scholars advise avoiding the practice altogether. Religious views may differ, and any specific scholarly position should be supported by an appropriate reference,” the notice added.
Hafeez argued that the piece was commissioned by the Begums as an expression of faith, not as ornamentation. He has also pointed to the Begums’ traditions of religious observance and seclusion, and to the practice among many Muslims of avoiding touching Quranic text without ablution. In his view, those customs make the display hurtful to those who hold the verse sacred.
He has also stressed that he sent the notice in a personal capacity, as a member of the community, and not on behalf of the Congress.
Neither Kareena nor Rhea Kapoor has responded publicly. A Bhopal-based right-wing Hindu group, the Hindu Utsav Samiti, has voiced support for the actor, which has pushed the matter beyond a single complaint into a wider public argument.
