Indian poet Javed Akhtar, at Lahore event, says 26/11 terrorists roaming free in Pakistan

A video of famous Indian poet Javed Akhtar is doing the rounds on social media and has gone viral as netizens from India are praising the writer for the strong-worded statements he made last week in Lahore, Pakistan.Javed Akhtar was attending an event in Lahore when he criticised Pakistan saying that the terrorists responsible for the 26/11 Mumbai attack in 2008 are freely roaming in the country and it has angered Indians.

The comments by Akhtar came when during the event when someone in the audience questioned him, "You have visited Pakistan so many times. When you go back, do you tell your people that these are good people, they aren't just bombing us but also greeting us with garlands and love?"

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Responding to this, the renowned lyricist said, "We should not blame each other. It will solve nothing. The atmosphere is tense, which should be doused. We are people from Mumbai, and we have seen the attack on our city. They [attackers] did not come from Norway or Egypt. They are still roaming free in your country. You should not complain if every Indian is angry about it."

He also added that India had always welcomed Pakistani artists with much fanfare but never received the same hospitality in return from Pakistan."When Faiz Sahab visited, he was received like a very important visitor. It was broadcast all over. We hosted big functions of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Mehdi Hasan. You [Pakistan] never organised a function for Lata Mangeshkar?" the poet said during the event.

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The audience at the event apparently welcomed his comments and broke out in applause. The comments also received a wide audience when the clip went viral on social media. Netizens on Twitter showered praises on Javed Akhtar. Some of them even went on to draw parallels between India's surgical strikes in Pakistan with Javed's comments at the Lahore event.

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Indian actor Kangana Ranaut also hailed his comments and wrote, "When I listen to Javed Saab's poetry, I wonder how blessed he is by Goddess Saraswati. But there must be something pure in the person for God to bless them. Jai Hind @Javedakhtarjadu saab. Ghar mein ghuss ke maara (You beat them in their own backyard)."

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