Javed Akhtar: Indian Film Industry Is Citadel Of Secularism

The Indian film industry is a citadel of secularism where there’s no scope for communal bias, says veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar.

“I had joined the film industry in 1965 on a salary of 50 rupees a month. In these 53 years, not for a second I have experienced or even seen any communal bias in our industry. This film industry is the citadel of secularism. Bigots, don’t try to pollute it,” Akhtar tweeted on Wednesday.

I had joined film industry in 1965 on a salary of 50 rupees per month. In these 53 years not for a second I have experienced or even seen any communal bias in our industry . This Film industry is the citadel of secularism . Bigots , don’t try to pollute it .

— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) March 28, 2018

Akhtar’s comment comes amid a raging debate which got sparked by a social media user’s tweet questioning Bollywood star Aamir Khan’s right to play Lord Krishna in the actor’s proposed screen version of the Mahabharata.

When a Twitter user questioned Akhtar on the correlation of Rs 50 and secularism, the critically acclaimed writer commented: “This is to establish that even when I was economically in a very humble and socially in a very vulnerable position, then too I didn’t feel any discrimination at least on any communal grounds.”