Religion over country? Nope, Javed Akhtar isn't going to buy this idea to spread hate. One of the finest cricketers in the Indian team, Mohammad Shami, became the target of trolls after he was spotted drinking water in the scorching afternoon while playing the semi-finals for the country at the Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai on Tuesday. This hate came in after the President of All India Muslim Jamaat, Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Bareilvi, called him a ‘criminal’ for not fasting during the auspicious month of Ramzan.

Javed Akhtar on Shami getting hate

As the hate grew, Javed Akhtar jumped in and advised Shami to not ‘give a damn to those reactionary bigoted idiots.’ The ace filmmaker took to X and, while tagging Shami and sending him best wishes for the finals happening on March 9, shared: