Lyricist Javed Akhtar recently announced on Twitter that he and his wife Shabana Azmi had turned down an invite to attend a literature conference in Karachi, Pakistan following the heinous terror attack at Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir.
Kranchi art council had invited. Shabana and me for a two day lit conference about Kaifi Azmi and his poetry . We have cancelled that . In 1965 during the indo Pak war Kaifi saheb had written a poem . “ AUR PHIR KRISHAN NE ARJUN SE KAHA “
— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) February 15, 2019
Shabana Azmi had also tweeted that it was time to call a halt to cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan and that she stands “in solidarity with the grieving families” of the martyrs.
#Pulwama attack There is no way we can carry on with cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan even as our martyrs are laying down their lives for us. I stand in solidarity with the grieving families.
— Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) February 15, 2019
This Karachi conference on Kaifi Azmi was supposed to be held on 23rd and 24th February.
While Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi took to Twitter to proclaim their concern for the Indian Armed Forces and their patriotism by cancelling the event owing to the Pulwama attack, according to a TOI report on the 13th of February, Azmi had been diagnosed with Swine Flu and was recuperating in a hospital.
As per reports, Javed Akhtar too has contacted the flu. Bollywood Hungama, on the 15th of February, quoted her as saying, “Luckily, he doesn’t need to be hospitalized. His preventive medication had started when I was diagnosed with swine flu. So it’s a milder attack. We are taking care of it at home.”
Shabana Azmi was also reported to have been smiling over the irony of having to deal with a swine-flu spouse on Valentine’s Day.
OpIndia could not confirm whether Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi have recovered from their Swine flue. However, it would surely seem that the primary reason for them cancelling their engagement was more owing to their health rather than their respect for our fallen heroes. Now, the only question that remains is why the duo chose to misrepresent their reasons on Social Media.
