Indian mythology is of every Indian, says Javed Akhtar

VARANASI: Lyricist and scriptwriter Javed Akhtar on Saturday said that Indian mythology belonged to every Indian because it was part of 'our cultural heritage'.
"I do not believe in any religion. But, I respect cultures of all religions. That is something which I have inherited from my syncretic upbringing. When I was bestowed the title of Shanti Doot by Varanasi's Sankat Mochan Mandir mahant Vishambhar Nath Mishra, I felt deeply honoured," Akhtar said. He was in Varanasi to take part in the Sankat Mochan Music Festival.

The septuagenarian lyricist said he had always stood against fundamentalism in any form. "I speak against fundamentalism of all hues," said Akhtar.

Reacting to a query about a recent statement by Pakistan foreign minister Khwaja Asif on actor Salman Khan's sentencing, Akhtar said the minister should take care of his own country. The Pakistani minister had reportedly said that Salman Khan had been sentenced to a jail term because he was a Muslim.

Akhtar said he felt everything was not right in the country at present as intolerance still existed. "However, I hope the common man would not go to any extremes and things would be back to normal in the coming days," he added. Referring to old Bollywood films, Akhtar said, "Today many things which never happened in the past are being seen. For example, Dharmendra spoke while standing behind a statue of Lord Shiva in Sholey. Similarly, Om Prakash narrated the story of Sudama in a song from the movie Sanyog. These things are not possible today. Yeh sab cheezein jo kattar Musalmano ki taraf se ati thi, ab main dekhta hoon ki kattar Hinduo ki taraf se aa rahi hain (Some staunch Hindus have started doing the same things which were earlier done by staunch Muslims in the past, which is not a good thing.)"