Javed Akhtar in his study.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Veteran screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar hit out at a social media user who branded him "son of gaddar (traitor)", and said his family has been part of the Indian freedom movement since the Revolt of 1857.
Akhtar's retort came in response to the social media user's swipe at him over a post in which he commented on US President Joe Biden's chances of being re-elected.
"I am a proud Indian citizen and till my last breath I will remain so but I have one common fact with Joe Biden. Both of us have exactly equal chance of becoming the next president of USA (sic)" Akhtar wrote on X.
The social media user had commented on the industry veteran's post and called him "a son of Gaddar who divided our nation" on religious lines.
Akhtar, known for his vocal views on a range of topics, clapped back at the user on Saturday and replied: "It is difficult to decide whether you are totally ignorant or a complete idiot.
"From 1857 my family has been involved with freedom movement n has gone to jails and Kala paani when most probably your baap dadas were licking the boots of Angrez sarkar (sic)".
The 79-year-old writer is the son of lyricist-poet Jan Nisar Akhtar, who was an active part of the Progressive Writers' Movement in pre-Partition British India, and writer Safiya Siraj-ul Haq.
His great great grandfather Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi was a freedom fighter who participated in the 1857 rebellion against the rule of the British East India Company. Khairabadi was sentenced to life in prison in the Cellular Jail, also known as Kala Paani, on the Andaman Islands where he also died in 1864.
On the same X thread, Akhtar further wrote that former US first lady Michelle Obama can "save USA" from ex-president Donald Trump, Biden's Republican opponent in the upcoming elections.
"I have expressed my opinion quite a few times in the past and still stand by it that the only one who can save USA from Trump is Michelle Obama (sic)" he said.