Veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar gave a sharp response to a troll over his Islamophobic remarks and reminded everyone that he is an atheist. The talks escalated after Akhtar criticized United States President Donald Trump over a claim involving Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The 81-year-old responded to an X comment questioning him on his faith and “community.” Akhtar wrote, “My community (Community) All are Indians. This also includes you (sic).” The exchange followed Akhtar’s post on US President Donald Trump and his claim involving Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Akhtar, who often uses his X account to share his views on a range of issues, had criticized Trump in a post on Saturday. His comments were about Trump’s claim that Meloni had “begged” him for a photo opportunity, which Akhtar strongly rejected.

Criticizing the US President, Akhtar said Trump, who is famous for telling lies constantly, has added another lie to his “never-ending list of lies”.

He questioned why a confident, high-profile and powerful woman like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni would ever beg for the opportunity to be photographed with “the most unpopular person in the world”. Akhtar highlighted the rich heritage of Italy and said that this great country has taught America a lot of “culture, art, architecture and good cinema”. He concluded that even if such an incident had occurred, only a “lousy, vulgar, uncultured person” would brag about it during a press conference.

After that, a troll posted a couplet, saying that he also had a verse for “the lies of your community”, adding, “We know the reality of this Hour (Heavenly Maiden) Of heaven, this thought is also good to console the heart.”

Akhtar then responded to the comment by reiterating that he does not identify with any religion. He wrote, “If your small, puny and underdeveloped mind could understand. It is a well known fact that I am an atheist (you may not be familiar with this term, it means a person who does not believe in any religion).”

Apart from his strong opinions on issues around the world, Akhtar is still active in Hindi films. His songs from the 1997 war film, Limitreused in border 2 (2026), starring Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh, Ahan Shetty, Mona Singh, Medha Rana, Sonam Bajwa and Anya Singh in lead roles.

The veteran has also contributed to the songs of Sunny Deol’s upcoming film. Batwara1947 (2026).