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'Hang my head in shame': Javed Akhtar fumes over India hosting Taliban minister Amir Muttaqi
Javed Akhtar also criticised the "reverent" welcome Muttaqi received when he visited the Darul Uloom Deoband Islamic seminary in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur.
Lyricist, screenwriter and poet Javed Akhtar on Monday criticised the Taliban Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi's visit to India, and the "respect and reception" he received during his trip. Akhtar called the Taliban the “worst terrorist group” and expressed disappointment over the warm welcome its representative received in a country like India.
"I hang my head in shame when I see the kind of respect and reception has been given to the representative of the world’s worst terrorists group Taliban by those who beat the pulpit against all kind of terrorists," Akhtar wrote on X.
He also criticised the "reverent" welcome Muttaqi received when he visited the Darul Uloom Deoband Islamic seminary in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district.
"Shame on Deoband too for giving such a reverent welcome to their “Islamic Hero” who is one of those who have completely banned girls education. My Indian brothers n sisters!!! what is happening to us," Akhtar's tweet further read.
Amir Khan Muttaqi received a rousing welcome in by the Deoband seminary, which had made elaborate arrangements for his visit on Saturday. A list of 15 prominent Ulema (Islamic scholars) was issued to receive the Taliban leader, and tight security measures were in place across the area on the day of his visit.
The seminary’s rector, Maulana Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani, supervised the welcome ceremony and greeted the Afghan minister along with senior scholars. Besides, flower petals were also showered on the Afghanistan leader as he entered, and many students gathered to take selfies with his entourage.
The visit to Deoband came a day after External affairs minister S Jaishankar met Muttaqi in New Delhi, as part of the first high-level diplomatic engagement between India and the Taliban regime since it took power in 2021.
Amir Khan Muttaqi, who faces UN sanctions including travel bans and asset freezes, arrived in India for a six-day visit last week after securing a temporary travel exemption from the UN Security Council Committee.
He thanked India for being the first responder in the recent earthquake in Afghanistan, adding that India is seen as a "close friend".
"We want relations based on mutual respect, trade and people-to-people ties. We are ready to create a consultative mechanism to strengthen our relations,” Muttaqi said during the meeting.
His first news conference in India had also sparked huge backlash over the exclusion of women journalists, and a fresh news conference was called two days later with over a dozen women journalists. Muttaqi called the absence of women at the earlier conference a "technical issue".
