The National Award-Winning Lyricist and Screenwriter, Javed Akhtar was bestowed upon the prestigious Richard Dawkins Award for critical thinking and advancing humanist values. Javed Akhtar is the only Indian to win the award.
Akhtar began his career as a writer who wrote some of the biggest blockbusters in the Hindi Cinema and later turned lyricist and has continued to remain so. Another aspect of Akhtar is his vocal critique of atrocities and propagating secularism thereby upholding his freedom of speech. His writings on secularism, nationalism, and religious bigotry travel to the Center for Inquiry which presented him with the prestigious award. The Center for Inquiry describes the recipient of the award as,
“The recipient will be a distinguished individual from the worlds of science, scholarship, education, or entertainment, who publicly proclaims the values of secularism and rationalism upholding scientific truth wherever it may lead.”
‘Never Had Doubts About My Views’
The writer has been under criticism for long because of his stance against the religious fundamentalism. He has often found himself in the middle of the controversy for speaking his mind. Upon receiving the award, he said,
“These are the people of the same ideology, but I wasn’t sure they would know of my existence or what I have written and my opinions. I had no idea it would reach so far! So, it is a huge recognition. Validation is for someone who has even an iota of doubt about what he or she thinks. But I have always been so sure about my thinking. But I am thrilled for this one because it is the first time I have been awarded for my views, my thought process, my rationality, my thoughts on religion. It is the ultimate recognition because it comes from huge institutions.”
Many believe the timing of the award is apt because of the situation in the country where there is an alleged attack on the dissenting voices. Javed Akhtar believes that his win would make people speak their mind even if it means that they are swimming against the tide. He said,
“This win will tell the world that there are people in India who express views which are sometimes not popular. Democracy has given us a gift, and we will always protect it.”
Source: The Indian Express
