Films
involving Javed Akhtar won’t be allowed to screen in India until the
writer-lyricist apologises for comparing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)
to the Taliban, said BJP spokesperson and Maharashtra MLA Ram Kadam on Saturday.
The Taliban, an Islamic militant group known for suppression civil liberties,
banning cinema and curtailing women’s freedoms, forcibly seized power in
Afghanistan last month.

Also Read | Here is what Afghan women filmmakers fear after Taliban takeover

Javed
Akhtar, veteran Hindi film scriptwriter and lyricist and a former Member of
Parliament (MP), drew a parallel between the Taliban and “those who want a
Hindu Rashtra”. “Just like the Taliban want an Islamic State, there are those who
want a Hindu Rashtra. These people are of the same mindset — be it Muslim,
Christian, Jews of Hindus,” Akhtar said on NDTV.

The RSS is
considered the ideological parent of the BJP, and the organisation has long
held that India is a Hindu ‘rashtra’ or state.

Also Read | PM Narendra Modi to meet Joe Biden for first time this month: Report

Reacting to
Javed Akhtar’s comment, BJP MLA from Maharashtra Ram Kadam said in a video message
on Twitter, “This statement by Javed Akhtar is not just shameful, but painful
and humiliating for crores of functionaries of the Sangh and the Vishva Hindu
Parishad and crores of people around the world who follow their ideology.”

MLA Ram
Kadam said that followers of the RSS come from the poorest of poor sections of
society and lyricist Javed Akhtar has insulted them. “Before making these
remarks, he should have thought that people with the same ideology are running
the government now, are fulfilling Raj Dharma. If the ideology was ‘Talibani’,
would he have been able to make these remarks? This shows how hollow his
statements are.”

“We will
not allow any of his films to run in this land of Ma Bharti till he apologises
with folded hands to the functionaries of the Sangh who have dedicated their
lives to the nation,” said Raj Kadam, a BJP MLA from Ghatkopar West.