Akhtar went on to praise Guha and said that while anyone can disagree with Guha, calling Guha a hypocrite is ‘an insult’.
"I do not want India to be a country in which millions of people say 'yes' to one man. I want a strong opposition".
— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) January 26, 2019
Thus Jawaharlal Nehru, speaking in 1950, the year the Republic was founded.
Lyricist Javed Akhtar, who is loved for his poetry and work in Bollywood, is being trolled on Twitter for his choice of words like ‘creep’ and ‘aukat’, which he has used to attack a Twitter user. Trolls mocked Akhtar for praising historian Ramachandra Guha.
The war of words sparked after a Twitter user Gorakh Nath Chaubey disagreed with Guha and referred to him as a hypocrite. Akhtar jumped into the conversation and referred to Chaubey as a ‘creep’. In the same post, he berated Chaubey and said that he wasn’t worth a speck of dust on a shoe of a scholar like Guha. Akhtar ended his tweet by saying ‘apni aukat mein raho’ (stay within the realm of your worth).
You creep , you are not even worth a speck of dust on a shoe of a scholar like Mr Guha . How dare you be so rude . Apni auqat mein raho .
— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) January 27, 2019
Akhtar went on to praise Guha and said that while anyone can disagree with Guha, calling Guha a hypocrite is ‘an insult’. He further continued with his insults and said, “These retarded creeps should know they are not the only ones who can cross the line.”
Wrong . Any one has the right to disagree with Mr Ram Guha but calling him a hypocrite is not a disagreement but an insult These retarded creeps should know that they are not the only ones who can cross the line .
— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) January 27, 2019
Scientist and columnist Anand Ranganathan then took to Twitter and posted a series of tweets to expose Akhtar’s hypocrisy.
In his tweets, Ranganathan called Akhtar out by listing out examples such as one, in which Akhtar stood for freedom of expression of all writers in a tweet asked for a female officer to be sacked for writing a “communal poem.”
In another example, he brought to light Akhtar’s solidarity with MF Hussain despite his depiction of Hindu Gods on one hand and his opposition to Salman Rushdie for writing “dirty things” about those who are revered by millions on the other.
Mr @Javedakhtarjadu turned vicious and abusive against someone for calling Prof Guha (a confirmed and celebrated hypocrite: https://t.co/pnHYLbgHfO) a Hypocrite.
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) January 28, 2019
This is surprising because if there is a bigger hypocrite than Prof Guha, it is Mr Javed Akhtar himself. Thread:
Stands for Freedom of Expression of ALL the writers of the world, condemns ban on their work. But wants a writer SACKED because he sees her work as communal.
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) January 28, 2019
That's @Javedakhtarjadu for you. pic.twitter.com/jP2Glp1aPL
Stands in SOLIDARITY with MF Husain, NEVER once condemns his portrayal of Hindu gods. But on Salman Rushdie, says: "You CANNOT speak in a derogatory manner; write DIRTY things about those who are REVERED by billions."
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) January 28, 2019
That's @Javedakhtarjadu for you. https://t.co/xoeg70xtBE pic.twitter.com/NU5tQdoyNi
Preaches the world on Misogyny, Fundamentalism, Bigotry, refers to Manusmriti, NEVER once condemns Iqbal, Sir Syed for their appalling views, NEVER quotes an egregious verse from the Holy Book. SNARES the fundamentalists, SPARES the fundamentals.
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) January 28, 2019
That's @Javedakhtarjadu for you. pic.twitter.com/wcbfezqKLZ
Akhtar also entered into war or words with writer and columnist Shefali Vaidya, who said that she admired Akhtar’s persistence to come back for more insults with the tenacity of a “worm”.
Sigh! @Javedakhtarjadu, I NEVER expect either polite or intelligent reaction from you ji. I don’t think you are capable of either! But I DO admire your persistence - to come back for more insults with the tenacity of a worm! https://t.co/dOMk3RokPv
— Shefali Vaidya ஷெஃபாலி வைத்யா शेफाली वैद्य (@ShefVaidya) January 28, 2019
This is not the first time the lyricist has been trolled on Twitter. Javed Akhtar was slammed for defending Rajkumar Hirani over his sexual harassment allegations. Earlier, Akhtar was also trolled for calling gold medal winning athletes “hardly literate” people for differing from his view on an issue.
Last Updated Jan 30, 2019, 1:26 PM IST