Priyanka Chopra's views on Kashmir that of an Indian: Javed Akhtar

Eminent lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar has said being an Indian citizen, the views of actor Priyanka Chopra supporting the Centre's recent decision on Kashmir will "obviously be an Indian point of view".

Mr Akhtar was commenting on a Pakistani minister's demand for the removal of Priyanka Chopra as UN Goodwill Ambassador for Peace, accusing her of supporting the government's decision on Kashmir.

"If her comments have upset the Pakistani establishment, they can do whatever they wish," Mr Akhtar told the reporters on the sidelines of a literary event in Kolkata on Wednesday night.

The government of India abrogated the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories. India has maintained that the matter is an internal concern and that Pakistan should "accept reality".

In a letter addressed to UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta H Fore, Pakistan's Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari had said Priyanka Chopra supports the Indian government's policies on Kashmir.

She further alleged that Ms Chopra is in favour of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.

"Ms Chopra has publicly endorsed this Indian government position and also supported the nuclear threat issued to Pakistan by the Indian Defence Minister. All this goes completely against the principles of peace and goodwill that Ms Chopra is supposed to uphold as an UN Goodwill Ambassador for Peace," Shireen Mazari wrote in the letter.

Speaking about the actor, Javed Akhtar said, "I know Priyanka Chopra personally. She is a cultured, decent and educated person and the fact remains she is an Indian.

"If there is some kind of a controversy and difference in point of view between an average Indian citizen (like Priyanka Chopra) and the Pakistani establishment, obviously her point of view will be an Indian point of view."

Asked to comment on the present situation in the Kashmir Valley, Mr Akhtar said, "I am not aware what is going on. As a matter of fact most of us don't know because there is hardly any information available. We are yet to get details.

"We know that there was some curfew, there were some restrictions, so on and so forth," he said.

-PTI