On Tuesday, over 150 citizens from all walks of life have issued a press statement extending unequivocal support to poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar and actor Naseeruddin Shah and have strongly condemned the hounding and attempts to intimidate them for expressing their views on the Taliban issue. Both Akhtar and Shah have drawn flak from different quarters of both Hindu and Muslim community, for their recent comments in context of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
Javed Akhtar came under attack of the rightwing Hindu groups after he said in an interview to NDTV that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was not entirely different from the Taliban. Slamming the Taliban after it took over Afghanistan, Akhtar said in the interview, “Those who support organisations like RSS and Bajrang Dal need to do some introspection. How are they any different from them (Taliban)?”
Following this interview of Javed, the troll army of the Hindutva brigade started threatening and abusing him on social media platforms. Various leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party hit out at Akhtar accused him of disrespecting the Hindus by equating them with Taliban. BJP leader Ram Kadam threatened Javed that his films would not be allowed to be screened till he apologised to the RSS for his remark.
The signatories to the statement categorically stated that “We agree with his statement that irrespective of the religion in whose name they claim to speak, right-wingers — be they Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christians — share a common majoritarian world-view. This is particularly evident when it comes to their views on the status of women in the family and in society. The Taliban are but an extreme and violent version of the same common fundamentalist mind-set. It is not for nothing that many in recent years have referred to violent elements from the sangh parivar as the ‘Hindu Taliban’.
Just like the venal reactions to the interview by Javed Akhtar, sections of the Muslim community raised objections, trolled and abused Naseeruddin Shah for his views and comments. In a video released on social media, the veteran actor condemned the sections of Indian Muslims, who are “celebrating” the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, calling it “dangerous.”
The citizens group supporting Nasseruddin Shah said that “Shah is only re-iterating the long, vibrant and tolerant tradition of Indian Islam that has been in recent decades afflicted by the Saudi-exported Wahhabi Islam, a trend that large sections of Indian Muslims recognise and also deplore”.
The signatories includes former Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas, filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, child rights activist Cedric Prakash, filmmaker Meera Dewan, historian Sohail Hashmi, Mahatma Gandhi’s great-grandson Tushar Gandhi, former IIT professor Dr Ram Puniyani, Irfan Engineer and retired DGP B Sreekumar.
The press statement and details of signatories is as follows:
We, the undersigned, support unequivocally the recent interview given by author and poet, Javed Akhtar to the media in the context of the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan. We strongly condemn attempts to intimidate him and affirm his right to speak his views.
We strongly disagree with those in the sangh parivar, led by a BJP MLA and other elements from the same wider parivar who have objected to the understanding of right wing supremacists, be it of the Muslim or Hindu kind.
In an interview to NDTV news channel, Javed Akhtar spoke with clarity and passion. We agree with his statement that irrespective of the religion in whose name they claim to speak, right-wingers — be they Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christians — share a common majoritarian world-view. This is particularly evident when it comes to their views on the status of women in the family and in society. The Taliban are but an extreme and violent version of the same common fundamentalist mind-set. It is not for nothing that many in recent years have referred to violent elements from the sangh parivar as the ‘Hindu Taliban’.
It is not insignificant that around the same time as the venal reactions to the interview by Javed Akhtar, sections of the Muslim community who have raised similar objections to recent comments by actor Naseeruddin Shah. In his video clip which went viral, Shah is specifically addressing the Indian Muslim community where he is warning Muslim compatriots against rigid forms of Islam, advising an espousal of modernity.
Shah is only re-iterating the long, vibrant and tolerant tradition of Indian Islam that has been in recent decades afflicted by the Saudi-exported Wahhabi Islam, a trend that large sections of Indian Muslims recognise and also deplore.
Signatories:
- Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM, ADC
- Aditi Chowdhury
- Aftab Khan, Journalist, Nasik
- A.J. Jawad, Advocate, Chennai
- Ajit Pandit
- Amir Rizvi, Designer, Mumbai
- Anand Patwardhan, Documentary Film Maker, Mumbai
- Anil Chandra
- AnjumRajabali, film writer
- Anubha Rastogi, Lawyer, Mumbai
- Arshad Alam, Academic/Researcher, Delhi
- Aruna Gnanadason
- Anuradha Kapur
- Apeksha Vora
- Ashok Maridas
- Askari Zaidi, Writer
- Atul Tiwari, Writer
- Aquila Khan- Filmmaker
- Aadya Pandey
- Aawaaz-Niswaan (Organisation)
- Ashhar Khan- Jaunpur
- B T Venkatesh, Senior Advocate,
- Bebaak collective (Organisation)
- Benson
- Brinelle D’souza, Academic and Activist
- Cedric Prakash, Jesuit and Civil Rights Activist
- Chayanika Shah
- Chirashree Das Gupta
- Cyrus Guzder, Philanthropist and Civil Rights Activist
- Deepika D’Souza
- Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) (Organisation)
- Dinesh Abrol, Professor ISID (retd), Chief Scientist CSIR-NISTADS (retd).
- Dipak Malik, Prof. (retd), Varanasi
- Dr. AsokanMundon
- Dr. S Faizi
- Enakshi Ganguly
- Farhat
- Farhan Rahman, Research Scholar, Ranchi
- Feroze Mithiborwala, National Convener, Bharat Bachao Andolan, Mumbai
- Forum Against Oppression of Women (Organisation)
- Gautam Bhattacharya
- Geeta Kapur, Art Historian and critique
- Geeta Seshu, Co-editor, Free Speech Collective
- Ghulam Moyiuddin Faruki, New York
- Gurumoorthy
- H. C. Satyarthi
- Hasina Khan, Feminist
- Harsh Kapoor, Independent Researcher, Delhi
- Hartman de Souza, Writer and Teacher
- Hindal Tyabji
- Imran Khan, Independent Theatre Artist
- Indira Chandrasekhar, Publisher and Activist
- Irfan Engineer, Director, Centre for the Study of Society & Secularism, Mumbai
- Irfan Khan
- J.S. Bandukwala, Professor of Physics (retd), Vadodara
- Javed Anand, Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy, Mumbai
- John Dayal, Author and Activist
- Jyoti Punwani, Freelance Journalist Mumbai
- K. M. Shrimali, Professor of History (retd), University of Delhi
- Kasim Sait, Businessman, Philanthropist, Chennai
- Kavitha Lankesh, Filmmaker
- Keval Arora
- Kirti Singh, Lawyer and WomensRightsActivist
- Kumar Samatahala
- Lalita Ramdas, Peace Activist
- Lyndon Saldanha
- M.K.Raina
- Madangopal Singh
- Madhu Prasad, Professor (retd), Delhi University
- Madhusree Dutta
- Mansoor Sardar, Bhiwandi
- Masooma Ranalvi, Co-Founder, India Lead, WeSpeakOut, Delhi
- (Prof.)Mazhar Mehdi (JNU, New Delhi)
- Meera Dewan, Filmmaker
- Mohammed Imran, Lucknow
- (Prof) Mohammad Sajjad Aligarh Muslim University (AMU)
- (Prof.) Mohan Rao
- Mukhtar Khan, Mumbai
- Mukta Srivastava
- Mumtaz Shaikh
- Muniza Khan, Gandhian Institute, Academic & Activist, Varanasi
- NS Shankar
- Najid Hussain, USA
- Nandan Maluste, entrepreneur and civil rights activist
- Nagaragere Ramesh
- Nasir Tyabji, formerly with Jamia Millia Islamia
- P A Azeez
- P.K.Shukla
- Pamela Philipose, Senior Journalist
- Parcham Collective
- Parthiv Shah, photographer
- Peggy Devaraj
- Persis Ginwalla
- Pradeep
- Pradeep E, Bangalore
- Premachandra U
- Priyanka
- Prabhat Patnaik, Prof Emeritus, JNU
- Qamarjahan, Lucknow(Prof.retd)
- Dr. Qaiser Shamim, Delhi
- Qurban Ali, Senior Journalist, Delhi
- QutbKidwai, Social Activist, Mumbai
- (Dr) Ram Puniyani, Author, Social Activist
- R.B.Sreekumar, former DGP, Gujarat
- R Manohar
- Rajinder Arora
- Ram Rahman, Photographer
- Ramachandran
- Ramesh Dixit. social activist and academician. Lucknow
- Razia Patel, Academic-Social Activist, Pune
- Romar Correa
- Rosey
- Rudrashish Chakraborty
- S.V. Raghurama Rao, Professor
- Sabah Khan, Parcham, Mumbai
- Dr. SabihaAlam, Academic, Delhi
- SachinChavan
- Salim Yusuf, Lawyer-teacher, Bhiwandi
- Sandhya Panaskar, Activist
- Sayed Riyaz Raheem, Poet, Mumbai
- Saurobijay Sarkar
- Shabnam Hashmi, Social Activist, New Delhi
- ShakeelAzmi, Poet
- ShaliniDhawan, Designer, Mumbai
- Shamsul Islam, Associate Professor University of Delhi (retd) and street theatre
practitioner
- Shama Angelina Chatterjee
- ShamimAbbasi- Ghazipur
- (Dr) ShahnawazAlam, Asst Professor
- Sheela Sridhar
- Shweta Damle
- SimantiniDhuru, Documentary Film Maker, Mumbai
- Sohail Hashmi, Writer, Film Maker, Heritage Activist, Delhi
- SubhanBande
- Suhel B
- Sujata Gothoskar
- Sumit Chowdhury
- Syed
- Syed Sarwar Hussain, Writer, Patna
- Syed Tehsin Ahmed, Political Activist, Delhi
- (Dr) TeestaSetalvad, Author, Journalist, Activist
- Tushar Gandhi, Peace, Rights and Liberalism Influencer
- Vasanthi Raman, (Prof., retd), New Delhi
- Vicky
- Vinita Balekundri, Maharashtra Hawker Federation
- VivanSundaram, Artist and Activist
- Wan Manan
- YaqoobRahi (Poet, Mumbai)
- Zafar Agha, National Herald, Delhi
- Zafar Bakht, Allahabad
- Zaheer Ali, Chairman, Centre for Promotion of Democracy and Secularism,
Mumbai
- ZakirSardarNaufil Arya, Poet, Agra
- Zoya Hasan, Professor Emerita, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)