Democracy is preserved in India due to Hindu culture : Javed Akhtar

Javed Akhtar, who had called the concept of Hindu Rashtra as violent, now praising Hindu culture!

Mumbai – In an interview given to a news channel a few months ago, Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar, who had compared the pro-Hindu organisations, viz. RSS, VHP, and Bajrang Dal with the Taliban and condemned the concept of Hindu Rashtra as violent, praised Hindu culture in a Diwali celebration event held at Shivaji Park by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). In his inaugural speech, he also stated that democracy is preserved in India only due to Hindu culture. The other dignitaries, who shared the dais with him, were actor, producer, and scriptwriter Salim Khan, MNS President Raj Thackeray, and film director Ashutosh Gowarikar.

Ramayan is the legacy of Indian culture!

Javed Akhtar said while praising Hindu culture, “Ramayan is the legacy of Indian culture. I was born in the country of Shriram and Sita. I do not consider Ram and Sita as the legacy of only Hindus, but it is the inheritance of every Indian in this country. The Hindu culture of India is tolerant; therefore, democracy has been conserved in this country.” (Did Javed Akhtar ever oppose those who were against Shriram Mandir ? Why doesn’t he talk about the Muslims having control over Hindu temples in Kashi and Mathura ? – Editor)

Intolerance is rising amongst Hindus!

Claiming only we are right and others as wrong cannot be a part of Hindu culture, but now, intolerance is rising. (Javed Akhtar should explain what he means by the rise in intolerance amongst Hindus. He is again calling Hindus as violent. Javed Akhtar should give at least one example of an incident of violence that was started by Hindus and was based on Hindu Dharma. – Editor) Javed Akhtar also said that today it was not possible to show a scene as was shown in the film ‘Sholay’ where the hero is cheating his lover by standing behind the Idol in a temple and showing as if God is talking to her. It would be opposed now. (It is an insult to Hindu Dharma. Earlier, Hindus were ignorant of such things, but they are now aware of the issues such as the denigration of Hindu Dharma, and are opposing in a lawful manner. Hindus, however, never threaten to behead anyone for denigrating their Dharma. Please note that Javed Akhtar is still criticising Hindus as intolerant, but he never speaks about what the people of his own community have been doing. – Editor)

While talking to a news channel a few months ago, Javed Akhtar said that some people in India promote the concept of Hindu Rashtra, the way the Taliban is trying to create an Islamic State. There is no difference in the goals of organisations like RSS, Bajrang Dal, and the Taliban. All of them have the same mentality. Indian Constitution is becoming an obstacle in the path of achieving their goals, but given a chance, they would cross their constitutional limits.

Editorial perspectives

• Javed Akhtar should also talk about the detrimental effects of fanatic Muslims on this country.
• The concept of Hindu Rashtra is based on Hindu culture. On one hand, the Opportunistic Javed Akhtar criticises the concept of Hindu Rashtra as violent and on the other praises Hindu culture as tolerant. If he has truly understood the importance of Hindu culture, then Javed Akhtar should apologise for his earlier statement criticising Hindu Dharma as violent.