Javed Akhtar's Kolkata 'mushaira' postponed following protests by Muslim groups

The Muslim organisations claimed that certain comments made by Akhtar have hurt the religious sentiments of the community.

Kolkata: The West Bengal Urdu Academy has postponed a 'mushaira' (poetic symposium) featuring noted lyricist Javed Akhtar following protests by some Muslim groups.

The four-day event, organised by the academy, was scheduled to be held in Kolkata from September 1.

The state-run academy, however, did not cite any official reason for the postponement.

"Due to some compelling reason, the four-day 'mushaira' had to be postponed. We will announce the new dates later," the academy's secretary Nuzhat Zainab told PTI on Tuesday.

He, however, did not clarify whether Akhtar would be among the guests when the rescheduled programme is held.

Jamiat-e-Ulema's state unit general secretary Mufti Abdus Salam Qasmi said, "Certain recent comments made by Javed Akhtar have hurt the sentiments of a section of Muslims. We are of the view that as a minority institution, the West Bengal Urdu Academy could invite someone else who had not hurt the sentiments of ordinary devout Muslims."

Mufti Shamail Nadvi of the Wahyain Foundation said, "Javed Akhtar is an erudite personality and is immensely gifted as a creative figure. But many of his recent comments have hurt the emotions and sensibilities of the community. As an academy looking after the well-being and protecting the values and sentiments of the Muslim community, the Minority Affairs Department should have been more careful in choosing guests."

Akhtar, who had in the past regularly attended literary meets in Kolkata, has time and again raised his voice against fundamentalism in all religions.

Protesting the postponement of the event, several Left student organisations extended an open invitation to Akhtar to speak on the role of Urdu in Hindi cinema in Delhi.

"On behalf of the representatives of Left student organisations – SFI, AISF, AISA, AIDSO, AISB, PSU – we strongly condemn the undemocratic attack by Islamist fundamentalist groups on the West Bengal Urdu Academy... the event was shamefully postponed by the TMC government after opposition from groups like Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind and Wahyain Foundation, which objected to Akhtar's atheist views. Instead of resisting such regressive threats, the government chose capitulation," a joint statement said.

"This attack is not just on an individual but on secularism, art, culture, intellectual freedom and scientific temperament... As Left progressive students, we refuse to accept any compromise with fundamentalist forces of any religion," it added.