During the launch of Urdu poetry album with actor-wife Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar focused on the prudence of Urdu language and the role Punjab as a whole played for its growth. The veteran lyricist mentioned at the event that Urdu has not originated from Pakistan or Egypt, rather it belongs to ‘Hindustan’. Post this his statement was condemned by a section of people in Twitter from Pakistan.
At an event, Javed Akhtar was quoted by the Indian news agency ANI, “Urdu hasn’t come from any other place… it is our own language. It isn’t spoken outside Hindustan… Pakistan also came into existence after partition from India, earlier it was a part of India only. So, the language isn’t spoken outside Hindustan…” He further said, “Punjab has made a big contribution towards Urdu and it is the language of India. But why did you leave this language? Because of partition? Because of Pakistan? Urdu should be given attention…”
Javed further said, “Earlier it was only Hindustan, Pakistan later separated from Hindustan. Now Pakistan said that Kashmir is ours… will you believe that? I think no. Likewise Urdu is a Hindustani language and it remains (so). Nowadays, new generation speaks less Urdu and Hindi in our country. Today more focus is on English. We must speak in Hindi because it’s our national language.”
Reacting to the statement made by the veteran, a Twitter user averred, “Javed Akhtar says Urdu belongs to India not Pakistan… it is not spoken outside Hindustan…!! Knowingly Urdu is Pakistan’s national language. What is this new mantak (logic) by Javed Akhtar?” A tweet noted, “There seems to be no stopping for Indian lyricist Javed Akhtar, when it comes to giving problematic statements regarding Pakistan, its culture, and its people.”
Someone tweeted, “Javed Akhtar’s existence revolves lately around trying to one-up on influencers by raking pointless controversies.”Another wrote, “Javed Akhtar looks like he wants to be in the headline ever since he returned from Pakistan. Recently he made another huge claim that the Urdu language belongs to Hindustan.” Another added, “Days after his anti-Pakistan remarks during the visit, Indian poet/lyricist Javed Akhtar claimed that Urdu is an Indian or ‘Hindustani’ language and does not belong to Pakistan.”
