Renowned Indian lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar recently sparked controversy by blaming Pakistan for the discrimination he and his family faced in India regarding rental housing. In a recent interview with an Indian broadcaster, Akhtar acknowledged that he had been denied a rental home in Mumbai because of his Muslim identity, but he shifted the blame onto Pakistani Muslims.
When the host referenced Pakistani actress Bushra Ansari’s claim that Akhtar was denied a home in India due to being Muslim, Akhtar sarcastically agreed, saying Bushra and her husband sleep on the streets. He then admitted that 25 years ago, his wife, actress Shabana Azmi, tried to buy an apartment in Mumbai for investment purposes but was told by Hindu landlords that Muslims were not given homes.
Akhtar claimed that the Hindu landlords who denied them housing were migrants from Pakistan’s Sindh province who had left during the Partition of India in 1947. According to him, these Hindus had suffered at the hands of Muslims in Sindh, including being forced to leave their homes, which were then occupied by Muslims.
He argued that because of the mistreatment Hindus experienced in Pakistan, when they migrated to India, they took revenge by refusing housing to Muslims in Mumbai. Akhtar suggested that this discriminatory behavior by Hindus was partly a consequence of Pakistan’s Muslim community’s actions during and after Partition.
In essence, Javed Akhtar attributed the denial of housing to Muslims in India not solely to Indian Hindu prejudice, but also to historical grievances caused by Pakistani Muslims against Hindus during Partition, which influenced present-day tensions.