Love your language, not religion: Javed Akhtar

For noted scriptwriter, lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar, language has no religion and says those who cry foul over "purity of language" should know that it is non-existent. Speaking at 'Jashn-e-Rekhta', a festival celebrating Urdu language organised by Rekhta organisation here, Akhtar hit out at those who aim to "divide people on linguistic lines". "Those who raise questions about dying languages, should know that there is a big question mark on all the languages on Saturday. Economic benefits have become the sole criteria of keeping a language alive," he said.The 70-year-old artist refuted notions of mixing language and religion."Urdu was the first language that was secular, anti-fundamentalist and anti-conventions since the beginning.... we label Urdu as a language of Muslims or a particular region or country," he said.