Islamic groups opposed to inviting Javed Akhtar force Bengal’s Urdu Academy to call off literary event

The State-run West Bengal Urdu Academy, which was all set to hold a four-day festival to celebrate Urdu in Hindi cinema, has put off the event following opposition from some Islamic organisations to inviting lyricist Javed Akhtar for it.

On August 30 afternoon, hours before the event was to begin in Kolkata, Nuzhat Zainab, Secretary of the Academy, said in an official statement released on social media: “Due to unavoidable circumstances, the four-day programme, Urdu in Hindi cinema, scheduled from August 31-September 3, is being postponed.”

When asked if there was a specific reason for the postponement, she reiterated: “As I said, due to unavoidable circumstances.”

Sources in the academy said the decision to put off the event was taken by the government because at least two Islamic groups, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and the Wahyain Foundation, had expressed their opposition to the invitation extended to Mr. Akhtar as a guest at the event. Mr. Akhtar, one of the best-known living Urdu poets in the country, takes pride in being an atheist, which these groups oppose, sources said.

The State government appeared unwilling to upset anyone ahead of an election year, and wished to prevent any unpleasant incident, such as an ink attack on the poet. At the same time, the government wanted to avoid an embarrassing situation by asking Mr. Akhtar not to come, sources said. This appears to have led to the postponement of the event, even though the organisers were all set to welcome another guest, filmmaker Muzaffar Ali.

“I am disappointed as we had made great efforts to deliver a one of a kind literary-cum-cultural programme on Urdu’s immense contribution in Hindi cinema for the Kolkata audiences. But I am hopeful that we will be able to hold the event at a later date with even greater diversity of participation and greater outreach,” Ghazala Yasmin, a member of the West Bengal Urdu Academy’s governing body and general council, and one of the key organisers of the event, told The Hindu.

“I hope Urdu as an Indian language, without any religious affiliation whatsoever, can be celebrated in our city for its cultural, aesthetic and literary excellence, and not be appropriated by narrow-minded religious dogma,” Ms. Yasmin, Assistant Professor at Kolkata’s Aliah University, said.