Veteran lyricist, scriptwriter and poet Javed Akhtar was present at the Jaipur Literature Festival, the three days festival started from today. In a session titled Javed Akhtar: Points of Views he spoke about secularism, language, and cultural identity. Akhtar asserted that nobody can be taught secular values, it is shaped by a person’s surroundings and his upbringing. “There is no crash course in secularism. If someone tries to teach you secularism, it will be fake,” Akhtar said during his session. He further added, “Secularism comes from the environment you grow up in. I inherited it naturally from my Nana and Nani.”
Language is not religious: Javed Akhtar
Akhtar was joined by writer Warisha Farasat. In the session Akhtar touched upon his personal philosophy, culture, language, and politics. One topic that Akhtar touched upon was whether Sanskrit or Urdu came first, “Sanskrit is thousands of years old, while Urdu is a much younger language. Tamil is the oldest surviving language in the world. Urdu is not even in that race,” he noted, he requested listeners to stop competitive narratives around linguistic heritage.
Pointing out the dangers of connecting language with religious or communal identity in a session ‘India in Urdu: Urdu in India’, Akhtar said that language politics contributed to the Partition of India. “The division over Urdu played a role in the creation of Pakistan,” he said. “Many people who stayed back in India and consider Urdu their own continue to live with a sense of tension.” He stressed on the fact that any language should not be treated as a property of a particular community or religion, “Language is not religious. It does not belong to any one community. It belongs to a region, to its people. The moment we try to turn language into a marker of religion, we create conflict,” he asserted.
In an open audience question answer round, when somebody asked Akhtar why he was not wearing his spectacles, he answered in humour, “Look at good faces and have good intentions. Glasses won’t help with that,”.
JLF begins with questions of secularism, language, and identity
One of the world’s largest literary gatherings, the Jaipur Literature Festival kick started on Thursday at iconic Clarks Amer. The festival started with usual ‘Morning Music: Naad – Between Sound and Silence’. Classical singer Aishwarya Vidya Raghunathan opened the mega festival. Chief Minister of Rajasthan Bhajan Lal Sharma, Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari, and Premchand Bairwa inaugurated the festival.
This year more than 500 writers, thinkers, artists, and public intellectuals have come from across the globe. This year’s centre of focus will be on literature, technology, politics, history, cinema, sports, and global affairs. There will be discussion on Contemporary international developments, this includes ongoing unrest and politics in Bangladesh and Venezuela. Besides, in the evening there is a dedicated music stage, where a diverse range of genres will be echoed.
Like every year, this year, the festival addresses diverse questions on secularism, language, and identity.
