The West Bengal government has suffered in front of Islamic organizations before the 2026 assembly elections. The Mamta Banerjee government -run West Bengal Urdu Academy has had to postpone a literary ceremony as Islamic groups strongly opposed the invitation of famous lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar to an event in Kolkata. He had threatened that he would protest if the invitation given to Akhtar was not withdrawn.
Javed Akhtar’s Mushaira postponed
The West Bengal Urdu Academy has postponed a Mushaira of famous lyricist Javed Akhtar following opposition from some Muslim groups. Muslim organizations claimed that some of Akhtar’s comments had hurt the religious sentiments of the community. The four -day program organized by the Academy was to be held in Kolkata from September 1.
Protest of Muslim organizations
However, the state government -run academy did not give any official reason for the adjournment. The Academy Secretary Nuzhat Zainab on Tuesday told ‘PTI-Bhasha’, “For a compulsory reason, the four-day ‘Mushaira’ had to be postponed. We will announce the new dates later. ”However, he did not clarify whether Akhtar would join the guests during the re -scheduled schedule.
Some recent comments by Javed Akhtar hurt the sentiments of a class of Muslims
Mufti Abdus Salaam Kasami, general secretary of the state unit of Jamiat-e-Ulema, said, “Some of the recent comments by Javed Akhtar have hurt the sentiments of a section of Muslims. We believe that being a minority institution, West Bengal Urdu Academy can invite someone who has not hurt the sentiments of common religious Muslims. ”Akhtar has repeatedly raised voice against fundamentalism in all religions.
Opposing the postponement of the program, several leftist student organizations openly invited Akhtar to speak on the role of Urdu in Hindi cinema in Delhi. A joint statement said, “On behalf of representatives of leftist student organizations-SFI, AISF, AISA, AIDSO, AISB, PSU-, we strongly condemn the allotian attacks made by Islamic fundamental groups on West Bengal Urdu Academy … The Trinamool Congress government postponed the event in a shameful manner after the protest of the protest.
He said, “Instead of opposing such threats, the government chose the path of surrender. This attack is not only on one person, but on secularism, art, culture, intellectual freedom and scientific thinking. As leftist progressive students, we refuse to accept any agreement with radical forces of any religion.