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Who Is Naley Matin? The Bangladeshi Anti-India Propagandist ‘Filmmaker’ At The Center Of The Nike Controversy

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Nike recently found itself at the center of controversy after a case of mistaken identity triggered backlash over its collaboration with an Indian fashion label, NorBlack NorWhite. The controversy arose when social media users alleged that the sportswear giant was featuring a Bangladeshi model, Naley Matin, who had previously made comments critical of India, in its first-ever collaboration with an Indian designer.

The controversy began after the Instagram account @CuratedCultureSociety incorrectly identified Naley Matin as a participant in the Nike x NorBlack NorWhite collaboration. This claim quickly went viral, fueling criticism from many who questioned Nike’s cultural sensitivity and its choice to align with someone who had allegedly been openly critical of India. The controversy intensified after netizens called out Nike for the collaboration and started calling for the boycott of the brand.

Curated Culture Society subsequently issued a clarification and apologized for the confusion. The account explained that the person in the photo was not affiliated with the collaboration and was instead a model from a previous, unrelated Nike campaign. “We’re truly sorry if our recent post caused hurt or offense. We were not aware that the individual featured in the first slide had previously made any statements related to recent events in India. Our intention was solely to highlight the bold color language of NorBlack NorWhite and not to associate them with any unrelated narratives. We sincerely apologize to @norblacknorwhite, as the individual shown had no connection to this historic collaboration with Nike.”

Shortly after, both Curated Culture Society and NorBlack NorWhite removed the related Instagram posts.

Meanwhile, Naley Matin herself addressed the controversy by stating that she was not involved in the collaboration and accused her critics of spreading misinformation and bigotry. She called them “Islamophobic, racist, colorist Indian Hindu nationalist” accounts allegedly controlled by the government, and used derogatory slurs against her critics.

Who Is Naley Matin?

As per her Instagram bio, Matin is a “Filmmaker, Producer, Editor & Writer.” with links to her YouTube channel and a GoFundMe link attached.

When one takes a look at her YouTube page, there are videos about genocides in different parts of the world and predominantly videos on Kashmir.

Apparently, Matin was in Kashmir recently and had been peddling anti-India propaganda on her Instagram and her YouTube on this.

In this video, she described Kashmir as if it were a separate country. She says, “Kashmir is located in the norther region of the Indian subcontinent, sharing borders with India, China and Pakistan – each nation laying claims to the territory while the Kashmiri people are subjected to military rule.”

She then goes on to say that her knowledge of Kashmir before the trip was entirely based on Bollywood movies where they were depicted as terrorists “specifically Kashmiri Muslim terrorists.”

She also claims that the Kashmiris have a different culture than the “Indian Hindu majority”. She continues, “from their language and traditional dress to food to religion, most Kashmiris are Muslim and their physical features.” Then she goes on to ask “Why is India forcibly occupying Kashmir? Why is India claiming right over Kashmir when Kashmir is nothing like the rest of India?” and she gives the reason as “natural resources” like coal, sapphire which the Indian government is “exploiting”.

When one looks at the comments on the video, many Indians questioned her half-baked narration and one-sided perspective that seems to come from poor understanding of the regional issues and history of the Kashmir region. When asked about why she did not talk about Kashmiri Pandits, she replied with 3 words that she seemed to have learnt recently “I rebuke you”.

In the video, she talks about going on the trip with her cousin Sadia.

Matin had posted videos following Operation Sindoor on TikTok. She says, “India bombed Pakistan in the middle of the night while people were sleeping,” and “Kashmir is a territory that is under occupation by India currently.”

In the same video, she goes on to share a distorted map of Kashmir and repeats the trope that Kashmir “borders India, Pakistan, and China.”

She then continues to peddle Pakistani propaganda that India did not have evidence of the Pahalgam terror attack being orchestrated by the terrorist state that Pakistan is.  She also blamed PM Modi, “a far-right Hindu nationalist” for seeing this as an opportunity and taking it.

She was also seen posting videos in support of NYC Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani who called PM Modi, a “war criminal“.

 

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