Indian screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar publicly criticised Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on social media platform X after Zardari, speaking at Pakistan's Independence Day celebrations, said his country 'tolerates' its 3 to 4 per cent Hindu population.
Javed Akhtar criticises Pakistan President Zardari over remarks on Hindu minority
Indian screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar publicly criticised Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on social media platform X after Zardari, speaking at Pakistan's Independence Day celebrations, said his country 'tolerates' its 3 to 4 per cent Hindu population.
Zardari, addressing a gathering during the Independence Day event, spoke about the status of Hindus in Pakistan and compared their situation to that of Hindus in India. 'We are Muslims. They are not. But we are Muslims of the mindset that we tolerate 3-4 per cent Hindu population in Pakistan. They are as free, as good as anywhere else they were. They would rather be with us than be with them,' Zardari said, according to a clip aired by CNN-News18.
Akhtar directed his criticism specifically at Zardari's use of the word 'tolerate' and also invoked the Pakistani president's long-standing nickname, 'Mr Ten Per Cent.' 'Mr Zardari of Pakistan, who had come into the limelight after Benazir Bhutto had married him, says that they tolerate the 3-4 per cent Hindu population in their country. I understand, Mr Zardari, you have always been insensitive to all under the sun, which is less than 10 per cent,' Akhtar wrote on X.
Zardari, the widower of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, acquired the nickname 'Mr Ten Per Cent' in the late 1980s and early 1990s amid allegations that he demanded a 10 per cent commission in connection with government projects and business dealings. Zardari denied those allegations.
The nickname gained wider prominence following the dismissal of Bhutto's government by then-President Ghulam Ishaq Khan in 1990. Caretaker Prime Minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi at the time alleged: 'A 10 per cent commission had to be paid to get permission for setting up any project. Commissions had to be paid to get bank loans… Zardari is a party to all that happened. He is the kingpin,' according to an interview Jatoi gave to TIME magazine in 1990.
- The source does not state the exact date of Pakistan's Independence Day event at which Zardari spoke.
- The source does not provide a response from Zardari or his office to Akhtar's criticism.
- The source does not include any reaction from Pakistan's Hindu community or their representative organisations to Zardari's remarks.
- The source does not state the current legal or official status of the corruption allegations against Zardari.
- The source does not provide independent verification of Zardari's claims about the conditions of Hindus in Pakistan.
Read the original at The Times of India