Javed Akhtar spars with BJP's Subramanian Swamy over Coronavirus, imams

Akhtar's reaction came after the veteran BJP leader posted an article from June 8, 2018, about Austria closing down seven mosques and 'kicking out 60 imams'.

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New Delhi: India may be up for a battle against Coronavirus, but Twitter is a different battlefield altogether. Saturday morning saw one such face-off between BJP MP Subramanian Swamy and lyricist Javed Akhtar.

After Swamy posted an article from June 8, 2018, about Austria closing down seven mosques and "kicking out 60 imams", Javed Akhtar reacted sharply.

He tweeted: "Like you were kicked out from Harvard ? You deserved it and I am sure so do these Imams . You all are the birds of the same feathers . You all spread wings to spread hate."

This was before Swamy tweeted the article asking "PTs pls check". PT is an acronym of 'paid troll'.

However, the article the BJP MP tweeted out is from 2018. The Vox article on shutting down mosques read, "The announcement, which was made by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, is rooted in a 2015 law that requires Muslim organizations to express a `positive fundamental view towards (the) state and society` of Austria, and bans foreign funding of religious institutions."