Javed Akhtar shares reaction to his 26/11 Mumbai attacks remark at Pakistan event: ‘They all clapped and agreed with me’

Javed Akhtar was recently in Pakistan for a literary festival in Lahore, where he made a comment about the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks roaming freely in Pakistan. A video of the lyricist-writer making the comment at the festival held in the memory of legendary Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz was widely shared on social media, and even actor Kangana Ranaut reacted to it by praising him. Now, Javed has revealed the audience’s response to his remark at the Pakistan event. Also read: Kangana Ranaut praises Javed Akhtar’s remark on 26/11 Mumbai attacks during Pakistan event

In a new interview, Javed Akhtar said that his comment about the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks was well-received in Pakistan. He added that there are many people in Pakistan ‘who admire India’, and wanted the two neighbours to ‘have a relationship’. Javed further spoke about how ‘Pakistan Army, Pakistani people, Pakistani establishment are not on the same page’.

When asked about the audience’s response to his remark, Javed said in an interview to NDTV, “They all clapped. They agreed with me. There are many people who admire India, want to have a relationship with us. We tend to think of countries as monolith. That is not the case. How do we connect with millions of people, who want to connect with India.”

Javed was also asked if this was the right time for talks between India and Pakistan, and if a middle ground was needed for that to happen. He said, “I don’t have that kind of calibre (to respond to this query). People who are in power, who are holding that position, understand what is happening, what is the situation how to go about it. Pakistan Army, Pakistani people, Pakistani establishment are not on the same page… People who run the country know better. My information is little. We in India have very limited information about Pak people. Same is the case with them.”

In the recent clip from Lahore, which was also shared by Kangana Ranaut on Twitter, Javed Akhtar was seen addressing a gathering at the Pakistan festival, where he said that as someone, who had witnessed firsthand the horrors of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, it would be wrong to expect Indians to ignore that the perpetrators of those attacks are perhaps still living freely in Pakistan. Responding in Urdu to a question from an audience member at the gathering, he said, “The attackers weren’t from Norway, or from Egypt. They are still present in your country, so you should not be offended if an Indian complains about this.” He also said that while India has hosted several Pakistani artists in the past, Pakistan has never hosted singer Lata Mangeshkar.