Javed Akhtar says his voice as a secular, credible Indian Muslim cannot be muzzled by the lies of people who claim he made anti-women statements on a TV show.

"To impute such an outrageous anti-women statement to me is nothing but a clever, cunning, diabolical plan to malign me. But it won't work," told Akhtar.

"I won't be intimidated by such farcical forces. Every Indian has to pay a price for standing up for calling a spade a spade. And I'm willing to pay the price."

He was reacting to accusations by women's organisations in Assam apparently owing allegiance to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

According to the allegations, Akhtar is supposed have said on the "Muqabla" programme on NDTV: "Assamese women are known for frequently changing husbands and can be purchased in any city of the country."

Akhtar laughs loudly at the outrageous comment: "Can you imagine me saying something like this? This is nothing but an election gambit by the BJP to malign me. They want to taint any credible Muslim voice.

"It suits their purpose. You see, it's easy for them to deal with radical Muslim elements who can be challenged quite easily for saying the rabid things that they unfortunately do.

"But what does the BJP do with a person like me who represents the sensible right-thinking Indian's voice?

"And please don't make the mistake of equating me with the Muslim elements. Because conservative radical Muslim elements are as disgruntled by my outspoken support for a reasonable - secular, if you will - India. They can't handle me. They can't bear to have me around."

The debate in question was NDTV's "Muqabla" on the uniform civil code. As usual, Akhtar spoke his mind. "I openly condemned the Hindu and Muslim elements on the show. This wasn't taken well by them.

"I knew there was going to be a backlash. What I didn't know was that there would be outright lies told about my words that evening in the debate. Unfortunately for these troublemakers, this was a televised debate. Facts are easily verifiable."

Akhtar says he's constantly attacked by maulvis and other representatives of radical Islam in a section of the Urdu press.

"While I'm looked on with suspicion and hostility by Hindu fundamentalists, I'm branded a qafir by the Islamic radical elements. So I'm under fire from both ends. But that's okay. They can't muzzle my voice."

Does he have any plans of joining active politics?

"No, I don't think so. Active politics means joining a political party and adopting and voicing its ideology. This would automatically limit my reach as an independent voice. And you've to admit. We desperately need liberal independent voices in this country.

"It's no longer true to say politics would provide me with a platform. Today, with such an active and participative media, my thoughts and voice could reach anywhere I want. I'm happy being who I am from where I am. If it's making some elements unhappy then I can only feel sorry for them."

Veering to his latest lyrics in "Mangal Pandey: The Rising" the music for which has been composed by A.R. Rahman, he said: "You've to understand the context within which the music has been composed.

"Rahman was given situations that required tunes. Given the restriction there was only so much he could do... As for my lyrics I'm glad they've been liked.

"I agree there's an all-round deterioration in film music - isn't that true of society at large? I hope to continue doing quality work."