Old video of Javed Akhtar praising Hindu culture resurfaces online

An old video of veteran screenwriter Javed Akhtar praising the inclusiveness of Hindu culture has resurfaced online. Another viral clip shows him describing festivals such as Holi, Diwali and Eid as cultural traditions that transcend religious identity

Mumbai: Veteran screenwriter Javed Akhtar once spoke highly about the Hindu culture and tradition. An old video of the screenwriter has surfaced on the Internet, and it shows him talking about what makes Hindu culture great.

In the video, he said, “What is so beautiful about Hindu community and Hindu culture and Hindu tradition? It is that they allow you to say anything, listen to anything and believe anything. And this is the value system because of which there is democracy in this country. And if you leave this country, you don’t get democracy till the Mediterranean coast”.

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Prior to this, a video of him had gone viral on the Internet, as it showed him talking about how culture is independent from religion. Javed Akhtar is an atheist but he celebrated all festivals. In fact, the biggest Holi bash of the Hindi film industry is hosted by him every year.

Talking about the same, he said, “A man is not just what he understands about himself, but also how he is understood by the world. I have no religious belief whatsoever. But on Eid, I receive the wishes. I don’t celebrate Bakri Eid, but I still receive the wishes. We celebrate Eid, we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate Holi, we celebrate Diwali. The biggest Holi of our film industry is hosted at our home. But we consider it as our culture”.

“This is the culture of India. We will not leave our culture because of religion. Leave religion, leave culture. Culture is a beautiful thing. Holi, Diwali are beautiful festivals. Why should we leave them? In fact, I will tell you the opposite. If you ask any anthropologist, these festivals are not made by religions. These festivals were made by culture. And religions took them inside”, he added.