The Akhtar family has been disturbed and enraged by the insulting tone of the trolls who targeted Farhan Akhtar following images of him conducting puja for Diwali began circulating. According to a family source close to the family, “We believe in the oneness of all gods. Farhan’s father is Muslim. His mother is Parsi and she celebrates Diwali every year for as long as she can remember. For Farhan celebrating Diwali comes as naturally as celebrating Eid. Where did the trolls come in?”
This Akhtar family is pursuing legal action, according to the source, “Javed Saab (Farhan’s father Javed Akhtar) feels letting go of the hate-filled comments is playing into their hands. At the same time, he also feels that giving the haters and abusers attention is doing what they want. Normally the family ignores online abuse. But this time the hate quotient is way too excessive to be set aside,” says the source.
It’s past time that the bigots be recognised, shamed, and imprisoned.
Farhan did not respond to a request for comment. He has indeed been urged to leave the matter in the hands of the legal team.
Farhan had stated to me once while discussing the duties of being a celebrity, “It’s very important to try to be the best human being that one can be. That doesn’t mean you try to be or do things that you are not. Everyone makes mistakes. I am quite certain I’ve made my share of mistakes. But the important thing is to TRY and do the right thing. Remember that the public’s eyes are on us all the time. So try to be on your best behaviour as much as possible. One may not always succeed. But there is much to be said in favour of a sincere attempt to do the right thing.”
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