If the choice is between Pakistan and hell, I would prefer hell: Javed Akhtar
New Delhi, May 18 (PTI): Noted lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar, who is often targeted for his views on patriotism and religion, says that if there comes a time he has to choose between Pakistan and hell, he would prefer to go to hell.
Akhtar, 80, was speaking at Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut's book launch on Saturday night in Mumbai.
At the event, the lyricist -- who identifies himself as an atheist -- said extremists from both India and Pakistan shower abuses on him on a daily basis.
"Some day, I'll show you my Twitter (now X) and WhatsApp. I am abused by both sides. I'm not thankless so I'll say there are also people who appreciate what I say, encourage me. But it's true that extremists from both here and there abuse me. This is right. If one of them stops abusing me, it'll be a matter of concern for me.
"One side says 'You are a kaafir (non-believer) and will go to hell. The other side says, 'Jihadi, go to Pakistan'. If the choice is between Pakistan and hell, I would prefer to go to hell," Akhtar said amid a round of applause from the audience.
The award-winning writer further said it's important to have citizens not subscribing to the ideology of any political party.
"That way they can say what they feel is right and what is wrong. There should be no party loyalty. All parties are ours and yet no party is ours. I'm also one of those citizens. If you speak from one side, you'll make the other side unhappy. But if you speak out from different points of view, you make many more people unhappy," he added.
Akhtar, who came to Mumbai at the age of 19, credited the city and Maharashtra for all his achievements.
In his last 30 years of living in Mumbai, the veteran poet said he was given police protection four times on threat perception, out of which three times because of "mullahs".
Last month, Akhtar said in an interview with PTI there is hardly "any warmth today" in India-Pakistan cultural ties, the veteran screenwriter-poet noted while saying that this is not the time to even think about whether Pakistani artists should be allowed to work in India.
His comments came after "Abir Gulaal", a film featuring Pakistani star Fawad Khan, was not allowed to release in theatres in India in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack.
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Baramati plane crash: Rohit Pawar alleges attempts to shield VSR Ventures
Mumbai (PTI): NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday alleged that someone was trying to save VSR Ventures in connection with the plane crash that killed Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, and claimed that the AAIB preliminary probe vindicated the doubts earlier raised by him.
He also accused VSR company of indulging in several grave lapses in the past.
The Learjet 45 aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures, crashed near the Baramati air strip in Pune district on January 28, killing Pawar and four others.
In its 22-page preliminary report on the VSR Venture's Learjet plane crash, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said the visibility at the time of the crash was below the required level. It also flagged about fading marks on the runway and presence of loose gravels on the runway surface.
Pawar said, "I am not against VSR or the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Ajitdada was travelling in a VSR aircraft. Unless we go into the depth of every aspect, we will not know the truth. But someone is trying to save this company. The doubts we had raised have been proven correct in the inquiry report."
He also claimed that the AAIB report contained discrepancies, including mentioning Baramati as a district, and questioned how seriously the probe had been conducted.
Pawar, who has been regularly holding press conferences to raise issues concerning the Baramati plane crash, also contested the report's conclusion that the aircraft hit trees before crashing.
"The report says the aircraft struck trees and then fell. But there are no trees at that spot. There is only a small bush which the aircraft did not even touch. What is stated in the report about hitting trees is incorrect," he said.
Pawar further alleged that VSR Ventures had displayed irresponsibility on multiple occasions, citing an incident involving the then chief minister Eknath Shinde's Davos visit on January 20, 2023.
He claimed that the aircraft carrying Shinde had entered Iranian and Iraqi airspace without overflight permission, following which fighter jets from the two countries allegedly warned of action, forcing a change in route from Bahrain to Zurich.
"There have been several such grave lapses by VSR," he said.
Pawar demanded to know from where VSR Ventures derived its "audacity", and sought details about its investors and officials, though he added that he was not personally concerned with who they were.
Drawing a comparison, he said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had taken over the probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death within two days, whereas a month had passed since the Baramati crash without a similar action.
He claimed that VSR Ventures had two directors and three shareholders, and that there were eight common names across two related companies.
He further alleged that the owner of VSR was related to the Union Civil Aviation Minister and questioned why the company, though registered in Delhi, had made high-value investments in Jubilee Hills (upscale area in Hyderabad) at rates allegedly Rs 17 crore above the market price.
The MLA representing the Karjat-Jamkhed assembly constituency in Ahilyanagar district also raised concerns about the legal and institutional framework of the AAIB under the 2017 rules, claiming it was neither a statutory nor an autonomous body and remained answerable to the secretary and the minister, besides being attached to the DGCA.
"There is no independent investigative agency," he alleged.
