00:00How did the debate of the year come into being?
00:11In late August 2025, Kolkata's West Bengal Urdu Academy planned a four-day cultural program called
00:16Hindi Film Home, Urdu Ka Kirtar, literally the role of Urdu Hindi cinema.
00:20It was scheduled from August 31st to September 3rd, and yes, Chavid Akhtar was on the roster.
00:25Then came the live Indians not too well, unavoidable circumstances.
00:34That's what the Academy said while postponing the entire program.
00:39But everyone could see the real storm gathering.
00:42Two groups had objected to Akhtar's invitation, Jamiad Ulema Kolkata and the Wahiaeen Foundation,
00:47arguing that Akhtar has made comments they saw as insulted religion and God and pushing for his invite to be withdrawn.
00:55What's the Wahiaeen Foundation? It's an Islamic trust founded by Mufti Shamel Nagbhi.
01:02Now comes the twist. One of the groups opposing Akhtar, Mufti Shamel Nagbhi's side, also floated something else.
01:08Does what exists on the topic, I give an open invitation to a public debate.
01:13Fast forward to December 20, 2025, New Delhi.
01:16In this very necessary debate, you all have a great pleasure.
01:21Akhtar does what he always does. He goes straight for lived reality, human suffering, violence, hypocrisy.
01:25After the end, there will always be a justice. When the child is left, the child is left, the child is left, the child is left.
01:32Mufti Nagbhi answers from the other side.
01:34In Israel, sorry, forgive me, Israel doesn't exist. In the occupied Palestine, the child is going to kill the child.
01:41Tell me, that in one exam, the child is writing the wrong answer. The examiner can stop, why are they not stop?
01:47Now, the real show begins. The internet after party. Clips start flying. Edits start cooking.
01:53Comment sections turn into mini-quotes declaring winners. And then a second debate erupts about
01:59whether this debate should have happened at all. Political scientist Yuvindra Yadar writes that
02:03debating God can be a distraction, that we should be debating God-men and the declining moral quality
02:08of religious leadership. Then, scientist writer Gauhar Raza pushes back. In a country where rationality
02:13is constantly under pressure, a calm public argument on faith and reason has social value.
02:23So, if you're wondering what this whole saga really was, it started as a festival about
02:27Urdu and Hindi cinema in Kolkata, it ended up months later as a viral national conversation about God,
02:33grief, free speech and how India fights online, sometimes like a mob, sometimes like adults.
02:44Was it a debate fun? Tell us what you think. I'm Manish Alikari. Thank you for watching.
02:48First things fast.
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