Shabana Azmi Congratulates Husband Javed Akhtar On Winning Richard Dawkins Award 2020
Javed Akhtar's wife Shabana Azmi recently took to Instagram to share that the acclaimed writer and lyricist has won the prestigious Richard Dawkins Award 2020.
Javed
Akhtar's
wife
Shabana
Azmi
recently
took
to
Instagram
to
share
that
the
acclaimed
writer
and
lyricist
has
won
the
prestigious
Richard
Dawkins
Award
2020.
She
congratulated
him
and
said,
"It
doesn't
get
bigger
than
this."
Despite
all
the
backlash
and
social
media
trolling,
Javed
Akhtar
is
often
seen
advocating
secularism
and
freedom
of
speech.
He
has
been
awarded
the
Richard
Dawkins
Award,
2020
for
critical
thinking
and
advancing
humanist
values.
Shabana
Azmi
shared
a
picture
of
husband
Javed
Akhtar
on
Instagram
and
wrote,
"Congratulations
Javed
Akhtar
for
unanimously
winning
the
prestigious
Richard
Dawkins
Award
2020
for
critical
thinking
and
advancing
humanist
values
-the
only
Indian
to
have
won
it
to
date.
Previous
recipients
include
Bill
Maher
and
Christopher
Hitchens.
It
doesn't
get
bigger
than
this."
Javed
Akhtar
Is
The
First
Indian
To
Receive
Richard
Dawkins
Award
According
to
reports,
Javed
Akhtar
is
the
first
Indian
to
receive
the
award
and
to
be
recognized
by
the
Center
for
Inquiry
(CFI).
Named
after
Richard
Dawkins,
an
English
evolutionary
biologist
and
author,
the
award
is
presented
to
people
who
upload
the
values
of
secularism.
CFI
website
reads,
"The
recipient
will
be
a
distinguished
individual
from
the
worlds
of
science,
scholarship,
education,
or
entertainment,
who
publicly
proclaims
the
values
of
secularism
and
rationalism,
upholding
scientific
truth
wherever
it
may
lead."
Zoya
Akhtar's
Congratulatory
Post
Their
daughter
Zoya
Akhtar
also
congratulated
her
father
on
the
feat
and
unique
achievement.
She
wrote,
"So
my
dad
just
won
the
prestigious
Richard
Dawkins
Award
2020
for
Critical
Thinking
and
advancing
Humanist
Values.
He
is
the
only
Indian
to
have
done
so.
Previous
recipients
include
Bill
Maher,
Stephen
Fry,
Ricky
Gervais
and
Christopher
Hitchens.
Super
excited
for
him."
Javed
Akhtar
On
Receiving
Richard
Dawkins
Award
2020
Confirming
the
news,
a
report
in
The
Hindu
quoted
Javed
Akhtar
as
saying,
"I
have
been
a
great
admirer
of
Richard
Dawkins
ever
since
I
read
his
first
book
The
Selfish
Gene.
I
received
an
email
from
him
informing
me
that
I
had
been
unanimously
selected
for
the
award
by
the
board
of
Centre
for
Inquiry
USA
in
which
The
Richard
Dawkins
Foundation
is
housed.
Richard
Dawkins
is
a
fierce
advocate
of
empirical
science
over
superstition.
I
have
read
all
his
books
and
they
have
strengthened
my
own
views
on
the
need
to
expose
religious
dogma
as
an
enemy
of
critical
thinking
and
rationality."
Some
of
the
other
celebrities
who
also
congratulated
Javed
Akhtar
for
his
achievement
are
Anil
Kapoor,
Dia
Mirza,
Ashutosh
Gowarikar
and
others.