In the wake of the Pulwama attack noted lyricist-screenwriter Javed Akhtar and his wife actress Shabana Azmi has turned down the invitation to appear for a programme on poet Kaifi Azmi in Pakistan. They were invited by the Karachi Art Council. The couple condemned the attack and took to social media and even went so far as to call for a halt of cultural exchange with Pakistan.
A Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) fidayeen’ attacked a CRPF bus yesterday killing at least 40 soldiers. The attacker rammed a car laden with explosives into the bus carrying Indian soldiers. Shabana and Akhtar took to Twitter to voice their indignation at the horrendous attack. Akhtar also wrote to inform that Shabana and he have cancelled the invitation in the wake of the attack. Check out his tweets below.
https://twitter.com/Javedakhtarjadu/status/1096315621610946561
https://twitter.com/Javedakhtarjadu/status/1096102055079374848
On the other hand, in a first Shabana called to halt all cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan. Usually, Bollywood has always maintained that art should not be held to ransom between the two countries, but this time around Shabana asked for a complete stop. She took to Twitter to send out a series of posts. Check them out below.
https://twitter.com/AzmiShabana/status/1096100074650619905
https://twitter.com/AzmiShabana/status/1096366302216708102
https://twitter.com/AzmiShabana/status/1096368040260788224
https://twitter.com/AzmiShabana/status/1096370686287699969
The dastardly Pulwama attack has jolted every Indian out of their reverie and everyone is grieving for the lives lost. Apart from Shabana and Javed many Bollywood celebrities like Akshay Kumar, Alia Bhatt, Priyanka Chopra, Salman Khan and Abhishek Bachchan also condemned the attack.