A much-anticipated four-day literary-cum-cultural festival on Urdu in Hindi Cinema, organised by the State-run West Bengal Urdu Academy, was abruptly postponed after Islamic organisations opposed the invitation extended to veteran lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar.
The event, scheduled from August 31 to September 3 in Kolkata, was called off on Friday (August 29) afternoon, just hours before its inauguration. The official reason cited was “unavoidable circumstances,” but sources quotes in the media revealed that the decision came after protests from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and the Wahyain Foundation, both of which objected to Akhtar’s presence due to his publicly stated atheism.
According to officials, the Mamata Banerjee-led State government feared potential disruptions, including the possibility of protests or ink attacks on Akhtar. At the same time, it was reluctant to directly ask the poet to withdraw, fearing further controversy. The decision to postpone was therefore seen as a middle ground.
Filmmaker Muzaffar Ali, another guest at the festival, had already arrived in Kolkata, but the event was called off nonetheless.
Expressing frustration, Ghazala Yasmin, a member of the Urdu Academy’s governing body and Assistant Professor at Aliah University, told media, “I am disappointed as we had made great efforts to deliver a one-of-a-kind programme on Urdu’s contribution to Hindi cinema. But I am hopeful we can hold it at a later date with even greater diversity and participation.”
Javed Akhtar, an Urdu poet and lyricist, has consistently described himself as an atheist. This has drawn opposition from conservative Islamic groups, who have previously criticised his participation in Urdu literary events.
Notably, Javed Akhtar and his self-styled “secular” companions often wear their so-called progressivism on their sleeves, mocking Hindu traditions, branding nationalists as intolerant, and siding with Islamist apologists in the name of minority rights.
But today, the very groups they coddle, like the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, are targeting him for merely being an atheist and daring to attend an Urdu literary festival. Since when did Urdu, a language of poets, patriots, and revolutionaries, become the private property of religious clerics?
Will Akhtar, who never spares a chance to ridicule Hindus and right-wing activists, now gather the courage to call out the Islamists who are openly trying to silence him? Or will he maintain a studied silence, exposing the hypocrisy of a brand of secularism that bends before Islamist intimidation but postures only against Hindu voices?
