CISAC Vice President Javed Akhtar Delivers Farewell Speech to the Parliament of India

Javed Akhtar (c) Baba Azmi
Articles

On 15 March, CISAC Vice President Javed Akhtar delivered his farewell speech to members of the Rajya Sabha or Council of States in the Parliament of India. Highly respected across the political spectrum, Javed Akhtar had been serving in the upper house of Parliament since 2010.

As he had worked to unite Indian creators to amend the Indian Copyright Act in the cultural world, Mr. Akhtar spoke to unification and cooperation in the political realm. His final speech focused on:

  • The dangers of polarization and adjournments, urging politicians to work together
  • The necessity to protect secularism to keep democracy and the Constitution intact
  • The current state of development in India while calling for conscious, thoughtful progress
  • The appreciation and gratitude of being a democratic nation
  • The protection of secularism not for isolating communities from each other but to protect democracy

Mr. Akhtar called the youth of India, who represent 50% of the population, as the future due to their “energy and talent”.

The speech was covered by numerous media outlets, including Firstpost and Times of Oman.

Watch the full speech by Javed Akhtar (in Hindi).