Veteran screenwriter, lyricist, and poet Javed Akhtar recently attended the Faiz Festival, an annual event held in memory of renowned Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, in Lahore. As he answered questions from the audience, he fired potshots at Pakistan in regard to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
As quoted by The Print, during the festival, an audience member asked him, "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?". Responding to him, Akhtar reminded Pakistanis that the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks are still roaming free in their country.
The 78-year-old artist replied, "Let us not blame each other. That won’t solve issues. Jo garam hai fiza, woh kam honi chahiye. Hum to 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 me 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)."
Javed Akhtar's response has been going viral on social media and has won the hearts of the audiences. Even Kangana Ranaut praised the lyricist as she shared the video on her Twitter account and wrote, "Ghar me ghus ke maare (Attack at their home itself)".
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