Amidst all the chaos going on currently in the World, a great news for our country has arrived. Javed Akhtar has won the prestigious, Richard Dawkins award.
Presented by the Centre For Inquiry (CFI), the recipient must belong to the field of entertainment, science, scholarship or education. Further, he/she must publicly proclaim values of secularism, rationalism and upholding scientific truth.
Last year, British comedian-actor, Ricky Gervais won the award.
Akhtar won the award for his “critical thinking, holding religious dogma upto scrutiny, advancing human progress and humanist values according to a tweet from her wife, actor Shabana Azmi.
Many Bollywood celebrities took to Twitter after hearing the news of his win to congratulate the veteran lyricist. Celebrities such as Dia Mirza, Anil Kapoor, Nikhil Advani and Urmila Matondkar congratulated Akhtar on his win.
Winning the award is huge for Javed Akhtar, as the veteran lyricist considers Richard Dawkins as his hero. Richard Dawkins was an eminent biologist after whom the award is named.
Known for writing scripts of many legendary films along with Salim Khan, with whom he formed the duo Salim-Javed. Akhtar has written scripts for films such as Zanjeer, Deewar, Sholay, Trishul and Mr India among others. He has also written lyrics for many films.
Javed Akhtar apart from his work in films has also spoken on several social issues. His views on CAA, Islamophobia, Cinema, Culture and on Religion have received considerable attention. Known for his ability to speak bravely on any issue, the lyricist is also a staunch atheist.