Indian’s renowned poet and screenwriter, Javed Akhtar is known for his animosity against Pakistan. Time and again, he has snubbed our celebrities and is a strong supporter of the ban on Pakistani stars in Bollywood.
His various tweets against Pakistan have often landed him in trouble. Now yet again, Akhtar has found himself in the eye of a social media storm after he expressed his views on Jinnah’s portrait in the Aligarh University of India.
The lyricist claims that its a shame that Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s portrait is hung on the walls of the institute since he was neither a student of Aligarh University nor a teacher.
Here’s what he updated on Twitter:
Jinnah was neither a student nor a teacher of Alig Its a shame that his portrait is there The administration n students should voluntarily remove it from there n those who were protesting against this portrait should now protest against the temples made to honour Godse.
— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) May 3, 2018
What’s more, Javed enunciated that Jinnah’s portrait should be removed by the administration and student.
His post also mentioned ‘Nathuram Godse‘, the advocate of Hindu nationalism who assassinated Gandhi in 1948.
Akhtar’s contentious tweet was bound to spark a new debate and Pakistanis are outraged over his views.
Frustation at its peak..jinna's portrait was there from decades.. y to remove now ..
— aaqib (@kashmirishaan) May 3, 2018
His followers are slamming him for mentioning Godse and Pakistan’s founder in the same tweet!
There is no need to put jinnah and godse in same tweet, it called monkey balancing. U want to talk abt godse tweet one more…But when u indulge in secular tweeting it makes ur comments less important…And as third person tweet looks more like whataboutery.
— Vivek kumar mishra (@greatvivek007) May 3, 2018
Even Indians are bashing him for comparing the killer Godse with Jinnah.
Nope. Partition was the collective failure of all to reach a consensus. Yes, Jinnah shares the blame but so do others. Nor did Jinnah 'want' anyone dead. Godse wanted Gandhi dead. Intent matters.
Like I said, Jinnah and Godse cannot be compared. Godse was India's first terrorist— Ayush Khanna (@AyushyaKhanna) May 3, 2018
However, a follower added that Jinnah has contributed a lot to Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
Though I am no Jinnah fan at all, I believe his portrait should stay because for AMU , he has done lots . He was a donor and also he was given a Life membership of AMU Students Union. He was also a Founder member of the University Court in 1920.
— Menon (@cochinmenon) May 3, 2018
It is noteworthy that Javed Akhtar’s tweet is followed by the violence episode at AMU over Jinnah’s portrait
Apparently, his canvas went missing after the university received threats by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker.
Aligarh: Hindu groups protested outside Aligarh Muslim University over the controversy surrounding Md. Ali Jinnah's portrait in the university campus. pic.twitter.com/QQeTxBmFWM
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 2, 2018
According to India times, the portrait was nowhere to be found, sending the student into a frenzy, with no reports as to who could have taken the portrait.
Javed Akhtar is the first Bollywood celebrity to share his two cents on the matters, asserting that Jinnah’s picture does not deserve a place in the university’s premises.
Stay tuned to Brandsynario for more updates.