Chandigarh, dec 27: Maulana Mabibur Rehman Shahi Imam, Jama Masjid Ludhiana, issued a fatwa in Ludhiana calling for Pakistani journalist Aroosa Alam’s social boycott by Muslims.

The Shahi Imam said that the tenets of Islam did not permit a woman to move about or keep company with any man other than her blood relations (father, mother and son).

Asked about the fatwa issued by the Shahi Imam asking Muslims to boycott her, Aroosa said illiterate clerics are the bane of a civilised society.

As Aroosa’s "proximity" with former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh caused flutters, she said on Wednesday that the relationship was only a friendship, and that she "is definitely not an ISI agent".

Clearly overawed by media coverage, Aroosa, who is president of the Islamabad chapter of South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), said: "I do not know how such a controversy (her relationship and the allegation of her being an ISI agent) was created. "

"Capt Amarinder is my good friend. We first met when he was the Chief Minister at a function of the Jalandhar Press Club. I don’t know from where the entire controversy has arisen. All this is politically-motivated, " she said.

She also claimed that she and Amarinder had played an important part in the now-stalled peace process between India and Pakistan.

Alam who said that her two children were also here said Amarinder’s wife Preneet Kaur had nothing against her.

"I am staying at the Moti Bagh Palace, Patiala. Preneet has been a good host. I have met Natwar Singh and other members of Amarinder’s family too. This visit was only to meet the ailing mother of Amarinder. Nobody other than the media has a problem, " she said. (ANI)