India Today Conclave: Imran opts out over Rushdie presence

Says controversial author has caused immeasurable hurt to Muslims.

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday abruptly cancelled his trip to India after learning that controversial British author Salman Rushdie was also invited to India Today Conclave – the conference where he was expected to speak.

Imran was scheduled to attend the India Today Conclave in New Delhi on Friday as a keynote speaker. He made public his decision to pull out of the event during a meeting with Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal.

PTI Vice President Dr Shireen Mazari said that the party leader received the programme schedule late last night and made his final decision early this morning after hearing the news of Rushdie’s participation in the programme.

A statement from PTI said “he could not even think of participating in any programme that included Salman Rushdie, who has caused immeasurable hurt to Muslims across the globe”.

Organisers announced on Tuesday that Rushdie would speak at the conference, two months after death threats forced him to withdraw from India’s premier literature festival.

Kashmir conflict

In his meeting with the Indian high commissioner, Imran went on to add that his party would herald a new chapter in Pakistan’s relations with India and resolve the issue of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

“Indian-administered Kashmir must be recognised as a political issue,” he said, adding that a bold leadership was needed to explain the advantages of developing the subcontinent to its full potential. (Additional input from AFP)

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2012.