'In India, hating Pakistan is how you show loyalty'

Hina Bayat slams Javed Akhtar's hateful rhetoric

Veteran actor Hina Bayat weighed in on the controversy surrounding Indian poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar, whose recent remarks against Pakistan have sparked outrage across the border. Speaking on a local television show on Wednesday, Bayat criticised Akhtar's "hateful" comments, suggesting that his words were less about conviction and more about performance.

"I think he made those hateful comments because he wanted to feel relevant," Bayat said during the segment. "He had to prove somehow that he is 'very Indian' so he used Pakistan for that purpose." Her remarks come in response to a statement Akhtar made during a press conference in India earlier this month, where he controversially declared: "If I have to choose between going to hell and going to Pakistan, I would prefer to go to hell."

Akhtar made his controversial remark during the launch of Narkatla Swarg, a book by Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, itself a politically loaded event. In such a volatile climate, words carry weight, and Akhtar's were more than just a personal preference.

The Indian lyricist has made several visits to Pakistan in the past, most notably as an honoured guest at the Faiz Festival in Lahore earlier this year, where he was warmly welcomed. In contrast, amid the growing strain in India–Pakistan relations in recent years, his rhetoric has taken a sharper, more critical turn, one that many in Pakistan interpret as politically driven or opportunistic.

Bayat echoed that sense of betrayal, calling for a reevaluation of who Pakistan offers its legendary hospitality to. "In India, hating Pakistan is the way you show how loyal you are," she said. "But I request Lahoris: do not host such people in the future. We Pakistanis are hospitable, we'll sit at the knees of elders, but that man does not deserve it."

Bayat's comments were among the more composed yet cutting responses from Pakistani public figures. Actor Mishi Khan, for instance, slammed Akhtar on Instagram, saying, "Javed Akhtar has chosen the perfect place for himself. No one in Pakistan will invite him again." Actor Imran Abbas wrote that Akhtar will "go to hell regardless," sarcastically adding that Pakistan had given him a business class welcome "though he wasn't even worthy of economy."

Meanwhile, former MPA Sharmila Farooqui called the remarks "deeply disrespectful," and actors like Asim Mehmood issued subtler but stinging responses of their own.