The Delhi debate on the question “Does God exist?” created noise, excitement, and strong reactions. What it did not create was clarity. People went in hoping to hear a serious exchange on belief and disbelief. They came out arguing over personalities, applause lines, and side issues. Somewhere along the way, God quietly disappeared from the debate.

This is not a small question. Humans have asked it for thousands of years. Empires rose with it. Moral systems were built around it. Wars were fought in its name. To treat such a question casually, or emotionally, is to do injustice to the subject itself. Sadly, that is exactly what happened.

Javed Akhtar never really argued against the existence of God. Instead, he argued against the world as it is. He spoke about terrorism, about children dying in wars, about religion being used to kill, about suffering that never seems to end. These are disturbing truths. No sane person denies them. But none of them answer the question being debated.

Human cruelty does not prove divine absence. At most, it proves human failure. The moment suffering is presented as proof that God does not exist, logic collapses. If humans misuse religion, the blame lies with humans, not with........

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