{"id":7931,"date":"2025-05-20T12:04:26","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T12:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=7931"},"modified":"2025-05-20T12:04:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T12:04:26","slug":"pakistan-or-hell-javed-akhtar-says-thanks-ill-take-the-flames","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=7931","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan or hell? Javed Akhtar says thanks, I\u2019ll take the flames"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>In a bold and unfiltered statement that has reignited debate across borders, celebrated lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar declared that if given the choice between Pakistan and hell, he would rather choose the latter.<\/p>\n<p>His comment comes mere weeks after Pakistan and India agreed to an uneasy ceasefire, marking a pause in recent cross-border skirmishes that had inflamed nationalist sentiments on both sides.<\/p>\n<p>The veteran writer made the remark during a candid public discussion in Mumbai, reflecting on the backlash he regularly receives from extremists across the ideological spectrum.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome call me a kafir and say I\u2019ll go to hell. Others call me a jihadi and tell me to move to Pakistan,\u201d Akhtar said. \u201cWell, if those are my only choices\u2014Pakistan or hell\u2014I\u2019ll gladly choose hell.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The line, clearly meant to be provocative, has gone viral on both Pakistani and Indian social media, stirring applause, anger, and intense debate.<\/p>\n<p>Akhtar\u2019s remarks sparked widespread condemnation in Pakistan, with many accusing him of inflaming tensions during a delicate moment of reconciliation.<\/p>\n<p>Veteran journalist Hamid Mir bluntly responded, \u201cGo to hell,\u201d while actor Adnan Siddiqui, once a gracious host to Akhtar in Lahore, dismissed him on Instagram as \u201can educated fool.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGo to Hell\u201d https:\/\/t.co\/gWNtpEHtlY<br \/>\n\u2014 Hamid Mir \u062d\u0627\u0645\u062f \u0645\u06cc\u0631 (@HamidMirPAK) May 17, 2025<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The backlash quickly escalated on social media, where countless users labeled Akhtar a \u201cbigot in disguise\u201d and condemned his statement as a betrayal of the cultural goodwill once extended to him.<\/p>\n<p>Atheist Javed Akhtar says he\u2019d choose hell over Pakistan. Relax, with all that venom in your heart, hell will be choosing you first. \ud83e\udee2\ud83d\udd25 #javedakhtar #pakistanzindabad #idiotindian #india #gotohell pic.twitter.com\/5tFCLhJurr<br \/>\n\u2014 Dr Bushra Iqbal\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf0 (@DrBushraIqbal) May 19, 2025<\/p>\n<p>Meaning, he&#8217;s already living in one. (As he said, not me) pic.twitter.com\/NnyqWtVjdi<br \/>\n\u2014 Hassan Jaidi (@hassanjawadrana) May 20, 2025<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a bold and unfiltered statement that has reignited debate across borders, celebrated lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar declared that if given the choice between Pakistan and hell, he would rather choose the latter. His comment comes mere weeks after Pakistan and India agreed to an uneasy ceasefire, marking a pause in recent cross-border skirmishes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7931\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}