Javed Akhtar in his interview had strongly condemned the Muslim clerics for the fatwa issued by them. The Deoband had issued a fatwa against working Muslim women saying, it is un Islamic for women to work as they have to interact with their male colleagues and many women do not don the veil at their work place. 

 

Javed Akhtar, however, said that nobody cares about fatwas and even said that many of these fatwas are bought for no more than Rs. 25000. He said that these fatwas do not influence anybody and are inconsequential to the society.

 

Akhtar has now got death threats for his comments against organisations issuing these fatwas and his apparent remark calling an Islamic cleric "insane". The writer has received threats via e-mail saying “your countdown has begun”. 

 

Akhtar has informed the police about the threats. He said, "I started getting a barrage of hate mails post my comments about the fatwa. They are of the opinion that by opposing the fatwa on Muslim working women, I am being anti-Islamic. I have informed the police and they have acted quickly and provided me with security.”

 

He also said, "These fatwas are not influential. The society does not bother about it. Some people were very outraged by my comments and sent me hate mail but this person has sent me couple of mails that are threatening."