A Muslim protester who once harangued a Labour politician over the teaching of LGBT issues in schools has emerged as a leading campaigner for a film about Islamic history to be pulled from cinemas.
Shakeel Afsar, 35, warned that there would be “repercussions” for screenings of The Lady of Heaven as hundreds of demonstrators turned out in Bradford, Bolton, Birmingham and Sheffield to picket cinemas.
The titular heroine of the film is Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad; she is revered by Shia Muslims, who comprise Islam’s second-largest denomination after Sunnis.
