Javed Akhtar said he felt greatly enriched after spending six years in the upper house.
Highlights
- Javed Akhtar hits out at Asaduddin Owaisi in veiled attack in Rajya Sabha
- Mr Akhtar chants 'Bharat mata ki jai' multiple times,calls it his 'right'
- Won't chant 'Bharat mata ki jai,' said Mr Owaisi in a speech on Sunday
Democracy and secularism, constitution and youth power, these are the advantages India enjoys and they should not be frittered away, noted poet and writer Javed Akhtar has said in a farewell speech to Parliament that drew huge applause cutting across political boundaries.
In a nuanced response to the ongoing debate on intolerance, Mr Akhtar asked if societies that think "anything against their religion or faith is punishable by hanging" be an example to us, or the ones in that have "every kind of freedom, where even the (a movie like) The Last Temptation of Christ can be made".
At the same time, he took on All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi over his recent refusal to say "Bharat Mata ki Jai", which has generated a huge controversy.
Without naming Mr Owaisi, Mr Akhtar said, "There is one man who thinks that he is a national leader, but in reality he is only a leader in an area in the city of Hyderabad, in one of India's states."
The leader, Mr Akhtar said, claims he will not chant Bharat Mata ki Jai because it is not demanded in the Constitution. "The Constitution also does not ask him to wear a sherwani and a cap... I condemn his statements on all fronts," said Mr Akhtar, a nominated member of Rajya Sabha who will be retiring later this year.
Chanting "Bharat mata ki jai" multiple times, Mr Akhtar said it was his "right" to do so.
Expressing support for the government, he said, "Some of my friends may be disappointed in me, but I believe from my heart that this government has very capable people."
But in what appeared to be a veiled criticism for the government's claims of economic development, he said, "Development is not the GDP development, but development is the Human Development Index."
The government and the opposition both should realise that "only work will take us forward and not adjournments and polarisation," he said. "To the kind of India, where everyone has clothes, shelter, hospital, treatments etc... only if you stop worrying about the next election."