Mumbai: Days after the West Bengal Urdu Academy postponed a mushaira featuring him following protests by some Muslim groups, lyricist Javed Akhtar shared an Urdu couplet on non-believers, infidels, saints and the devout, saying, “I’m that subject difficult to understand.”
Akhtar, a self-proclaimed atheist, is a regular at cultural gatherings around the country and also known as someone who does not mince words when it comes to criticising fundamentalism, whether Hindus or Muslims.
The couplet, by an anonymous poet, he shared on X seemed to point to a “subject” being misunderstood by all.
“The devout man considers me an infidel, and the infidel thinks, (I’m) Muslim/the non-believer thinks I’m saint, and the saint considers me non-believer/After hearing both sides, I am amazed/I’m that subject which is difficult to understand/If someone is inclined to understand, then I am easy,” reads the loosely translated version of the couplet.
زاہد نظر نے مجھے کافر سمجھا اور کافر یہ سمجھتا ہوں ہےُمسلماںُ ہوںُ/ رند سمجھے ہے ولی مجھ کو ولی رند مجھےُُ / سن کے ان دونوں کی تقریرُ کو حیراں ہوں میںُ / ہوںُ وہ مضمونُ کہ مشکلُُ ہے سمجھنا میرا / کوئ مائلُ ہو سمجھنے پہ تو آساں ہوں میں
— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) September 4, 2025
The ‘mushaira’ was slated to be held in Kolkata from September 1. It was postponed for a future date after some Muslim organisations claimed that certain comments made by Akhtar hurt the religious sentiments of the community.
The state-run academy 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 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.”
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.
PTI
