Chanting 'Bharat mata ki jai' is my right: Javed Akhtar in impassioned retirement speech in Rajya Sabha

March 16, 2016

New Delhi, Mar 16: Retiring as Rajya Sabha member, noted film personality Javed Akhtar said on Tuesday that "adjournaments" and "polarisation" will not take the country forward. He pleaded with the Opposition and the government to work together without thinking about the next elections. Taking a break from the usual uproar, the different political parties in the Upper House, were seen cheering Akhtar, unanimously.

AkhtarAkhtar, who was nominated to the Upper House by the UPA government, said there are capable leaders in the Modi

government who can do good work but those making extremist comments, need to be reined in.

"I hope both Opposition and the government will work together. Adjournments will not take us forward. Even

polarisation will not take us forward. Please forget next election and think about the country," he said in his

impassioned speech. The house listened to him in rapt silence and occasionally burst into applause after a particularly good statement.

The film lyricist slyly slammed AIMIM leader and MP Asaddudin Owaisi for saying that he won’t chant 'Bharat mata ki jai' because the Constitution does not ask him to do so.

Taking a dig at Owaisi's constitutional rights, Akhtar said, "the Constitution even does not ask him to wear sherwani (dress) and topi (cap)... I don't care to know whether saying 'Bharat mata ki jai' is my duty or not but it is my right."

He went on to chant 'Bharat mata ki jai' a number of times.

He also condemned the right-wing extremists who say Muslims should go to Pakistan.

Underlining that there cannot be democracy without secularism, Akhtar said protecting secularism is not about

protecting one community or the other. "We need to protect secularism because there cannot be democracy without it. I believe this is our greatest achievement."

On religious freedom, Akhtar said time does not stop and the country either would move forward or backward.

"One who learns from experience is intelligent. But those who learn from others' experiences are more intelligent. Look at those countries where religion is given importance, where the tongue is cut and people are hanged if they speak against the religion. Whether that country should be an example for us or a country where there is religious freedom. We have to think," he asked.

Expressing concern over lack of development in the country, Akhtar said India has industrialised and become a big

power now but "more could have been achieved. Anyway whatever has been achieved is no less."

At the same time, he said, "We need to think why there is no development despite there being government and system in place? We want development but whose development and for whom? we need to think."

He added, "Development is not GDP. Development is Human Development Index. Be it any party, they wish the development of the countyr. Why our energies are wasted?"

On democracy, he said, "We are fortunate to have democracy though we complain about the government and society.

We don't thank what we have with us. We don't thank enough to our constitution. ...The constitution gives democracry. But remember, there cannot be democracry without secularism."

He said that the meaning of democracy is taking views of the majority and not minority. "But the democracy believes

that majority and minority is not permanent. They keep changing. The democracy will die the day we define minority

and majority in our own way."

Emphasising the need to protect secularism, Akhtar said protecting secularism is not about protecting one community or the other. "We need to protect secularism because there cannot be democracy without it. I believe this is our greatest achievement."

Besides democracy and the Constitution, Akhtar said India has youth power unlike Japan and China.

"The country's 50 per cent of the population is young. 35 crore people are youth and in age group of 10-15 years.

They have lot of energy and talent," adding, "Japan has lost this advantage and China is losing this advantage. You have 20 years to take advantage of the youth power. Both Opposition and the government have to think about it," he said.

Comments

Zoh
 - 
Friday, 18 Mar 2016

I dont think Javed saab knows anything about Islam. If he has little knowledge also, he would not have commented such nonsense. People like Kabir khan, SRK, Javed Akther, there are some more who are bothered about their status in bollywood. They even forgot that they have to Die & meet their manufacturer. Fools like him will make comment without any knowledge of the Religion. Javed Saab please dont comment if you are not 100% sure what are u saying

sadiq
 - 
Thursday, 17 Mar 2016

MUslim will not say this words bcz we believe whole world is created by allah .at the time of death we need shahada kalima if we say bharat mata ki we will not be able to say shahada may allah guide us ameen

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News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Going down the memory lane, late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's close friend and actor Rhea Chakraborty recalled her memories with the departed actor as Rajput's untimely demise completed one month on Tuesday.

This marks the 'Jalebi' actor's first social media post dedicated to Rajput after his demise.

Chakraborty took to Instagram to post two pictures of herself with the 'Kai Po Che!' actor and complimented the post with a long emotional note.

She began the note by stating how she is "still struggling" to face her emotions and said that she will never come to terms with the actor's demise.

"Still struggling to face my emotions.. an irreparable numbness in my heart. You are the one who made me believe in love, the power of it," she wrote.

"You taught me how a simple mathematical equation can decipher the meaning of life and I promise you that I learnt from you every day. I will never come to terms with you not being here anymore," she added.

Terming Rajput as the "greatest physicist," the 'Mere Dad Ki Maruti' actor then recalled Rajput's passion for astrophysics.

"I know you're in a much more peaceful place now. The moon, the stars, the galaxies would've welcomed "the greatest physicist "with open arms," Chakraborty wrote.

Full of empathy and joy, you could lighten up a shooting star - now, you are one. I will wait for you my shooting star and make a wish to bring you back to me," she added.

Remembering the bond that she shared with him, Rhea wrote, "You were everything a beautiful person could be, the greatest wonder that the world has seen. My words are incapable of expressing the love we have and I guess you truly meant it when you said it is beyond both of us."

"You loved everything with an open heart, and now you've shown me that our love is indeed exponential," she added.

The 28-year-old actor ended the note by stating how she will love Rajput for a "lifetime."

"Be in peace Sushi. 30 days of losing you but a lifetime of loving you....Eternally connected. To infinity and beyond," she wrote.

Chakraborty and Rajput were close friends and were also set to share the screen space in the film 'Happy Anniversary.'

Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai residence on June 14. The investigation in the case related to Rajput's demise is currently underway for which Chakraborty was also interrogated by Mumbai Police.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Los Angeles, Jan 27: Lil Nas X, Lady Gaga, Beyonce and... Michelle Obama?

Yep.

The former first lady can now add Grammy winner to her resume, after snagging the award on music's biggest night for Best Spoken Word Album, for the audiobook of her memoir Becoming.

Her win on Sunday gives the Obama household its third Grammy: former president Barack Obama has already snagged two Grammys in the same category for his books.

She faced an eccentric group of rivals that included Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys for Beastie Boys Book and John Waters, the director-performer known for his transgressive cult films, for Mr. Know-It-All.

 Released in late 2018, Becoming saw the former first lady slam U.S. president Donald Trump for questioning her husband's citizenship and promoting the notion that he was born abroad.

"The whole [birther] thing was crazy and mean-spirited, of course, its underlying bigotry and xenophobia hardly concealed," Obama wrote.

America's first black first lady also dug into her personal life in her book, expounding on issues including a miscarriage, using in-vitro fertilization to conceive her daughters and marriage counseling.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Feb 10: Bong Joon-ho’s film “Parasite” starts in a dingy, half-basement apartment with a family of four barely able to scratch out a life. There must be no place to go but up, right? Yes and no. There’s nothing predictable when the South Korean director is on his game.

This dark, socially conscious film about the intertwining of two families is an intricately plotted, adult thriller. We can go up, for sure, but Bong can also take us deeper down. There’s always an extra floor somewhere in this masterpiece.

It tells the story of the impoverished four-person Kim family who, one by one, and with careful and devious planning, all get employed by the four-person affluent Park family — as a tutor, an art teacher, a driver and a housekeeper. They are imposters stunned by the way wealth can make things easier: “Money is an iron. It smooths out all the creases,” says the Park patriarch with wonder.

Bong, who directed and wrote the story for “Parasite,” has picked his title carefully, of course. Naturally, he’s alluding to the sycophantic relationship by a clan of scammers to the clueless rich who have unwittingly opened the doors of their home on a hill. But it’s not that simple. The rich family seem incapable of doing anything — from dishes to sex — without help. Who’s scamming who?

Bong’s previous films play with film genres and never hide their social commentary — think of the environmentalist pig-caper “Okja” and the dystopian sci-fi global warming scream “Snowpiercer.” But this time, Bong’s canvas is a thousand times smaller and his focus light-years more intense. There are no CGI train chases on mountains or car chases through cities. (There is also, thankfully, 100% less Tilda Swinton, a frequent, over-the-top Bong collaborator.

The two Korean families first make contact when a friend of the Kim’s son asks him to take over English lessons for the Park daughter. Soon the son (a dreamy Choi Woo-sik) convinces them to hire his sister (the excellent Park So-dam) as an art teacher, but doesn’t reveal it’s his sis. She forges her diploma and spews arty nonsense she learned on the internet, impressing the polite but firm Park matriarch (a superb Jo Yeo-jeong.)

The Park’s regular chauffer is soon let go and replaced by the Kim patriarch (a steely Lee Sun-kyun). Ditto the housemaid, who is dumped in favor of the Kims’ mother (a feisty Jang Hye-jin.) All eight people seem happy with the new arrangement until Bong reveals a twist: There are more parasites than you imagined. The clean, impeccably furnished Park home will have some blood splashing about.

Bong’s trademark slapstick is still here but the rough edges of his often too-loud lessons are shaved down nicely and his actors step forward. “Keep it focused,” the Kim’s son counsels his father at one point. Bong has followed that advice.

There are typically dazzling Bong touches throughout. Just look for all the insect references — stink bugs at the beginning to flies at the end, and a preoccupation with odor across the frames. And there’s a scene in which the rich matriarch skillfully winds noodles in a bowl while, in another room, duct tape is being wrapped around a victim and classical music plays.

Bong could have been more strident in his social critique but hasn’t. There are no villains in “Parasite” — and also no heroes. Both families are forever broken after chafing against each other, a bleak message about the classes ever really co-existing (Take that, “Downton Abbey”).

“Parasite” is a worthy winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the first South Korean movie to win the prestigious top prize. The director has called it an “unstoppably fierce tragicomedy.” We just call it brilliant.

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