Javed Akhtar visits Pakistan, says ’26/11 terrorists still roaming free’
- Akhtar had gone to Pakistan last week to attend an event commemorating legendary Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz
- He reminded the gathering that perpetrators of 26/11 attack are still ‘roaming free’
- Pakistan has not welcomed Indian artists the way Indians have
Writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar, who was in Lahore to attend a festival, took potshots at the country by saying that the perpetrators of 26/11 attack on India are still roaming free in Pakistan, reported India Today.
Akhtar had gone to Pakistan last week to attend an event commemorating legendary Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz. A video of Akhtar’s remark quickly became popular on social media.
“We saw how Mumbai was attacked… They (the terrorists) are still roaming freely in your country,” Akhtar said on the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. India has orgainsed huge events for Pakistani artists such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Mehdi Hasan, said Akhtar, adding that Pakistan has never thought of conducting events for Lata Mangeshkar.
“You have visited Pakistan many times. When you go back, do you tell your people that these are good people?” a man reportedly asked him from the audience. To which, Akhtar said, “Let us not blame each other. That won’t solve the issues. We saw how Mumbai was attacked. They (terrorists) came neither from Norway nor from Egypt. They are still roaming freely in your country. Indians have complained against it.”
Pointing out that Indian artists had not been welcomed in Pakistan, “We hosted big events for Nusrat and Mehdi Hasan but no performance of Lata Mangeshkar was ever organized in your country,” he 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,” The Print quoted Akhtar saying.
Netizens are showering praises on Akhtar’s video. Actor Kangana Ranaut was in awe of Akhtar’s comments. “When I listen to Javed Saab’s poetry, I wonder how blessed he is by Goddess Saraswati. But there must be something pure in the person for God to bless them. Jai Hind @Javedakhtarjadu saab. Ghar mein ghuss ke maara (you beat them in their own backyard),” Ranaut wrote.
Ten Lashkar-e-Taiba militants from Pakistan unleashed a massacre in Mumbai, by murdering 164 people on November 26, 2008. During the attacks, nine of the gunmen were killed, while one survived. The lone surviving gunman, Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, was executed in November 2012. They’d taken a boat from Karachi, Pakistan, to Mumbai.
