Bollywood lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar was recently in Lahore, Pakistan to attend the Faiz Festival 2023. The event was organized in memory of renowned Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz where Javed Akhtar interacted with the poets and also addressed the audience. A video is going viral from the festival in which the veteran lyricist can be seen reminding Pakistan of the 26/11 terror attacks. He says that the neighboring country should not feel bad if India expresses its complaints about the attackers still roaming around in Pakistan.
In the video, Javed Akhtar said, "Let us not blame each other. That won’t solve issues. Jo garam hai fiza, woh kam honi chahiye. Hum toh Bambaiye log hain. Hamne dekha wahan kaise hamla hua tha. Wo log Norway se toh nahi aaye the naa Egypt se aaye the, wo log abhi bhi aapke mulk me ghum rahe hain. Toh ye shikayat agar Hindustani ke dil mein ho toh aapko bura nahi manna chahiye (The atmosphere needs to cool down. I am from Bombay and all of us witnessed the attack on Bombay. The attackers weren’t from Norway, or from Egypt. They are still present in your country, so you should not be offended if an Indian complains about this)."
Akhtar said in response to a person's question who urged him to take the message of peace and friendship back to India. the person asked, "You have visited Pakistan many times…When you go back do you tell your people that these are good people, they aren’t just bombing us but also greeting us with garlands and love?"
Javed further added, "Mehdi Hassan was a cult figure in India. When he visited India, Shabana (Azmi) hosted it, I wrote for the event which was graced by the likes of Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. When Faiz sahab visited, it seemed like an authority was visiting…it was broadcast all over. Have you ever seen Sahir (Ludhianvi), Kaifi (Azmi) or (Ali) Sardar Jafri’s interviews on PTV? It was shown in India, it happened there… So the communication blockade is from both sides and perhaps more from your side."
Netizens have been heaping praise on the lyricist including Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut. The Manikarnika actress took to Twitter to re-share a video of Javed Akhtar and supported him. She said, "Jab main Javed saab ki poetry sunti hoon toh lagta tha yeh kaise Maa Swarsati ji ki in pe itni kripa hai, lekin dekho kuch toh sachchai hoti hai insaan mein tabhi toh khudai hoti hai unke saath mein … Jai Hind @Javedakhtarjadu saab….. Ghar mein ghuss ke maara .. ha ha"
Meanwhile, Kangana Ranaut and Javed Akhtar have always been at loggerheads. In 2023, the lyricist had slapped the actress with a defamation case and had claimed that she had dragged his name into a television interview about the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, and said that he was a member of a Bollywood ‘coterie’. They have been putting allegations against each other since then. Hence, Kangana's praise for Javed Akhtar today is unexpected.
