Javed Akthar added that there was a huge amount of misinformation in the country.

Poet Javed Akthar, known for his outspoken atheism, on Saturday advised GenZ to be reasonable and rational.

He was speaking at the Symbiosis Literary Festival in Pune . When a student asked him what was the one single conviction he’d like to plant in GenZ, he responded by saying, “Be reasonable and rational”.

Akthar’s session was a discussion on the book Hindostan Humara describing India’s history through poetry. The book was compiled by Akthar’s father Jaan Nisar Akthar, after the idea was given to him by Jawaharlal Nehru in the 1960s, he said.

The anthology was reissued in 2006 with the aim of making poems accessible to the new generation. When asked by the host what had changed in the last two decades, Akhtar said society had further weakened its link with art.

“With a heavy heart, the last two decades have weakened our relationship with art. In feudal times, there was no opportunity.…