Javed Akhtar, Banu Mushtaq and the contagion of religious sentiments getting hurt – Alt News

In two related but unconnected developments, writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar and International Booker Prize-winning author Banu Mushtaq have found themselves in the midst of controversies after being invited to speak at an Urdu literature festival in Kolkata and to inaugurate a Dussehra festival in Mysuru, respectively. Both the issues have stirred political debates, and their concurrence is more than a simple coincidence. At the root of both disputes stands the dangerously contagious idea of religious sentiments getting hurt.

While Akhtar’s involvement in the literary meet that has now been indefinitely postponed irked Muslim groups, one of which called him a ‘Devil in human guise’, the invitation to Mushtaq infuriated the BJP.

Jamiat Ulama Kolkata Opposes Javed Akhtar’s Participation in Kolkata Event

The West Bengal Urdu Academy (WBUA), which functions under the aegis of the minority affairs and madrasah education department of the government of West Bengal, invited poet-film writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar for an Urdu poetry reading session (Mushaira) to be held at Kala Mandir auditorium on September 1. The event was part of a four-day festival to celebrate Urdu in Hindi cinema. Posters, which carried Akhtar’s photo as the chief guest, were put up in several places in the city and the event was much publicized since early August.

Facebook posts by the Urdu Academy about the event prominently featuring Akhtar can be seen here, here, here and here.

However, the academy indefinitely postponed the entire event after Jamiat Ulama Calcutta secretary Zillur Rahman Arif on August 25 wrote a strongly worded letter to the Urdu Academy opposing the invitation to Akhtar. The letter, signed by 13 Muslim clerics and community leaders, said:

“…I was very happy to know that like every year, this year too the annual program of Urdu Academy is being held with great pomp and ceremony, but it is a matter of concern for all conscious and peace-loving people that Javed Akhtar has been invited to preside over this program of Mushaira as the special guest, who is a very impudent and rude person. Inviting such a disrespectful person in a literary program is a cause of great concern for us. There are many writers, poets, journalists and Urdu servants who are more deserving of this position. Then inviting a person who is not only averse to religion but also a person who is adamant about insulting other religions and insulting the creator of the universe is an intolerable act.

Therefore, Jamiat Ulama Calcutta strongly requests that this person be stopped from participating in this program and in his place, a credible and deserving person be invited, regardless of his religion. However, we cannot tolerate such a person who is impudent in defiance of God, and if our requests are not heeded, we will be forced to adopt another method prevalent in democracy. Earlier, Jamiat Ulama had launched a movement against Taslima Nasreen, who had blasphemed the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and forced her to leave Bengal. We also spoke to Jamiat Ulama West Bengal president Hazrat Maulana Siddiqullah Chaudhry in this regard. He expressed his strong displeasure over Javed Akhtar’s participation in this program and said, ‘Apply to the officials of Urdu Academy because the purpose of Urdu Academy is to serve Urdu literature and writers, not to spread and propagate hatred of God. We are sure that due to your religiousness, you will definitely pay attention to our requests…”

Shortly after this, the shared a Facebook post saying, “This is to inform that our upcoming event Hindi Filmon mein Urdu ka kirdaar has been postponed.” Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is the chairperson of the academy, while Trinamool Congress MP Nadimul Haque is its vice-chairperson.

Speaking to a local news channel, WBUA secretary Nuzhat Zainab (a civil service officer) said the programme had been postponed “due to unavoidable circumstances”. When the journalist again asked the specific reason for it, she repeated, “unavoidable circumstances.”

Explaining the Jamiat’s stance, general secretary Arif told news agency IANS, “…this program is a matter of joy for the whole of West Bengal, but inviting Javed Akhtar to it has caused a lot of unease among people. Javed Akhtar has spoken a lot of nonsense against Islam, against Muslims, and against Allah. This person is not a human but a devil in human guise. Do not include Javed Akhtar in this program…”

Kolkata, West Bengal: Jamiat Ulema Kolkata’s General Secretary Zillur Rahman Arif has opposed the invitation of poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar as the chief guest at the Kolkata Mushaira organized by the West Bengal Urdu Academy.

He says, “We have sent a letter to the Urdu Academy.… pic.twitter.com/basy7xKNsO

— IANS (@ians_india) August 28, 2025

Another Kolkata-based Muslim organization, Wahyain Foundation, which describes itself as “a charitable Islamic trust that provides services in various fields such as education, social welfare, and Shariah guidance”, echoed similar sentiments. Its founder & chief Mufti Shamail gave a statement to local media outlets expressing his displeasure at the academy extending an invitation to Javed Akhtar. He invited Akhter to an open debate in Kolkata on the topic, ‘Does God Exist?’

In a press release issued on September 1, Mufti Shamail Nadwi clarified that the Wahyain Foundation had not pressured the Urdu Academy into cancelling the event. According to the statement, they had only invited Akhtar to a public debate in view of his “repeated disrespectful remarks about Allah”.

While a group of liberal Muslims have written to Mamata Banerjee expressing their disappointment at the Urdu Academy, of which she is the chairperson, “pander(ing) to the fundamentalists”, Javed Akhtar told The Telegraph that his name had nothing to do with Islam. “I feel very happy when I am in Kolkata. I am an atheist. For me, the Boi Mela is a pilgrimage,” he added.

A source in the Academy who wished to remain anonymous told Alt News that the opinion of each of the governing body members was sought, but the decision to postpone the event came from the highest authorities. Two factors were behind this, they said — the government did not want to antagonize a section of the Muslim community before elections, and secondly, there was the question of law and order. Going ahead with the programme would have been risky, the decision makers thought.

BJP Opposes Congress Govt Invite to Banu Mushtaq to Inaugurate Dussehra Festival

On the same day as Jamiat Ulama Calcutta issued its warning to the Urdu Academy, a major political row erupted in Karnataka, with state BJP leaders objecting to the Congress government’s decision to invite Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the Dasara Festival in Mysuru, on the ground of the author’s faith.

Mysuru Dasara, the 10-day state festival of Karnataka, is held near the Sri Chamundeshwari Devi Temple atop the Chamundi Hill during the Navratri and culminates on Vijayadashami. On August 22, the Siddharamaiah-led Congress government announced its decision to invite Kannada author Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the celebrations on September 22.

Mushtaq, a widely respected voice in Kannada literature, was born in a Muslim family and attended a convent school. She leapt to worldwide fame in May this year after she won the coveted International Booker Prize for her collection of short stories, ‘Heart Lamp’. She is the first Kannada author to win the award. Mushtaq shared the £50,000 prize with her translator, Deepa Bhasthi. ‘Heart Lamp’, a collection of 12 short stories that depicts the struggles of women, particularly Muslim, in a conservative patriarchal society, was hailed by the judges as an “astonishing portrait(s) of survival and resilience”.

“In a world that often tries to divide us, literature remains one of the last sacred spaces where we can live inside each other’s minds, if only for a few pages,” Mushtaq had said shortly after her win. Expressing her happiness over the state government’s invitation to her, she said, “I have high regards for Dasara, which is attended by lakhs of people. I respect the religious sentiments and Goddess Chamundeshwari, the main deity of Dasara festivities. Nada Habba is a part and parcel of Hindu culture and all sections of society enjoy it as an annual festival.”

The state BJP leaders, however, found the decision ‘inappropriate’ because Mushtaq’s faith was ‘uncertain’. Leading the charge was BJP leader CT Ravi, who linked it with minority appeasement. Ravi said some of Mushtaq’s past comments about Goddess Bhuvaneshwari were unacceptable and she should be regretful for it and accept Karnataka’s culture first before going to inaugurate the festival.

Speaking at the 2023 Jana Sahitya Sammelana, Mushtaq had sparked an inclusivity debate by questioning the tradition of associating the Hindu deity Bhuvaneshwari with the Kannada language, pointing out that it was exclusionary to the minorities in the state.

Several other BJP leaders from the state expressed their reservations about Mushtaq inaugurating the celebrations, though some of them acknowledged her literary achievements. Among them are Tejasvi Surya, expelled BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, former Mysuru MP Pratap Simha, state BJP president BY Vijayendra, incumbent Mysuru MP and scion of the Wadiyar dynasty Yaduveer Wadiyar and others.

Simha said, “… It is acceptable when she chairs the Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana but not Dasara, a Hindu religious event which starts with offering pooja to Goddess Chamundeshwari. Does she have faith in Chamundeshwari Devi? Is she following our traditions?”.

Wadiyar, who had initially welcomed the decision, did a volte face, and commented, “After seeing her earlier statements about Kannada and Goddess Bhuvaneshwari, I feel our sentiments have been hurt. Unless she clarifies or withdraws those remarks, I cannot support her inaugurating the Dasara.”

Pro-BJP influencers like Anand Ranganathan went a step further. On Times Now, Ranganathan said: “Let Banu ji deny that she believes in the Kalma, that she believes that there is no god but Allah and no other deity has the right to be worshipped but Allah. Let her deny this, then of course she is welcome to inaugurate a Hindu goddess’s festival…”

The Karnataka government has backed its decision asserting that Dasara is a ‘secular’ festival for all communities. “Dasara is a cultural festival; it is ‘Nada Habba’ (state festival). There is no reason that it should be inaugurated only by people belonging to a certain religion. Nada Habba means a festival for everyone – Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and Jains…” chief minister Siddaramaiah told reporters in Mysuru on August 31.

How Often Do Religious Sentiments Get Hurt in India?

Woefully too often.

In September 2024, the Sunburn Festival in Rishikesh was cancelled after the Right Wing protested against it saying it would hurt their religious sentiments. Nearly 1,000 tickets of Rs 1,200 each had already been sold by then, reported TOI. A year before that, the same festival ran into trouble after Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party accused the organizers of the same offence and filed FIRs against them.

A number of shows by comedian Munawar Faruqui had to be called off in Bengaluru in 2020 because of protests from Right Wing groups on account of their religious sentiments getting hurt.

Similarly, 22-year-old law graduate and content creator Sarmistha Panoli from Kolkata was arrested earlier this year for hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims through a controversial social media post. It led to a political row in West Bengal with the BJP questioning the unusual alacrity with which police acted.

In October 2021, Fabindia had to take down an ad for a new garment collection launched ahead of Diwali, that was named ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’, an Urdu phrase meaning “celebration of tradition”. The use of Urdu and the absence of a Bindi on the women depicted in the promo (photo below) allegedly hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. Bengaluru BJP leader Tejasvi Surya led the campaign against the ad by writing on X, “Deepavali is not Jash-e-Riwaaz. This deliberate attempt of abrahamisation of Hindu festivals, depicting models without traditional Hindu attires, must be called out. And brands like Fabindia must face economic costs for such deliberate misadventures.” ‘#NoBindiNoBusiness’ soon started trending on the platform leading to Fabindia issuing a clarification and withdrawing the campaign.

In June 2024, police in Navi Mumbai sealed a meat shop and arrested three Muslim persons for hurting religious sentiments after the name ‘Ram’ had been found written on a goat.

In March 2023, a complaint was lodged against actor Taapsee Pannu in Indore by the son of a BJP MLA for hurting religious sentiments by wearing a necklace with the image of Hindu deity Lakshmi during a fashion show in Mumbai.

In December 2022, a pharmacist from Indore was charged under IPC Section 295 (A) (Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) for sharing an condom advertisement on Facebook in which a couple was shown dancing the Garba. The Madhya Pradesh high court later quashed the FIR.

In March this year, Kedarnath BJP MLA Asha Nautiyal demanded that non-Hindus be banned from the region as they were hurting the religious sentiments of locals. She further asked for a ban on non-Hindus at all the four ‘dhams’.

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