Bollywood lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar has hit out at Yogi Adityanath, the new Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, by indirectly painting him as a “fringe” element within the Hindu society.
Speaking at an event titled Young Gujarat that was held yesterday at Baroda Medical College in Vadodara, Akhtar said, “Personally I think that he (Yogi Adityanath) issues strong statements, which is not right. But if the party thinks that he is the right person to implement their agenda, it’s the party’s prerogative to choose him.”
Echoing statements like “growing intolerance”, Akhtar is reported to have claimed that aggression against minorities in India has appeared to increase in recent times, however he added that things were not that bad as he didn’t consider 99% of the Hindus as Adityanath Yogi, thus painting the new Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh as a fringe element who can make minorities feel uncomfortable.
The event was also attended by former union minister and NCP leader Praful Patel, where both of them talked about the current situation in the country.
Javed Akhtar also opined about the fatwa against Nahid Afreen and explained that any statement by many mullah didn’t become fatwa, and even otherwise some fatwas were bought for 15-20000 rupees. He also said that it’s unfortunate that the government had to step in to remove triple talaq, as it was something that the Muslim Personal Law Board should have done by themselves.