India denies request of Pakistani diplomats to attend Jaipur Lit Festival
Manzoor Memon and Naeem Anwar had sought permission to go to Jaipur to attend a literature festival 10 days back.
10 days back, Manzoor Memon and Naeem Anwar, sought permission to go to Jaipur to attend a literature festival. PHOTO: PUBLICITY
Amid tensions between India and Pakistan spurred by recent Line of Control clashes, two Pakistani diplomats were denied permission to enter Jaipur, Express News reported Friday.
Pakistani sportsmen and artists had earlier been sent back home by Indian authorities.
The diplomats, Manzoor Memon and Naeem Anwar, had sought permission to go to Jaipur to attend a literature festival 10 days back.
The diplomats had stated that they will stay in the Indian city from January 24 till January 28.
The Indian authorities did not mention any reasons for the refusal.
Pakistani author Mohammad Hanif was also absent from the festival, but the organisers did not give a reason as to why he was not there.
Managing director for the Oxford University Press Pakistan, Ameena Saiyid, writers Musharraf Ali Farooqi and Nadeem Aslam were present at the festival.
Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had warned that Pakistani writers should not visit Jaipur Literature Festival, where the works of seven Pakistani authors including Jamil Ahmad and Mohammed Hanif were shortlisted for the 2013 Prize for South Asian Literature.
Pakistani sportsmen and artists had earlier been sent back home by Indian authorities.
The diplomats, Manzoor Memon and Naeem Anwar, had sought permission to go to Jaipur to attend a literature festival 10 days back.
The diplomats had stated that they will stay in the Indian city from January 24 till January 28.
The Indian authorities did not mention any reasons for the refusal.
Pakistani author Mohammad Hanif was also absent from the festival, but the organisers did not give a reason as to why he was not there.
Managing director for the Oxford University Press Pakistan, Ameena Saiyid, writers Musharraf Ali Farooqi and Nadeem Aslam were present at the festival.
Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had warned that Pakistani writers should not visit Jaipur Literature Festival, where the works of seven Pakistani authors including Jamil Ahmad and Mohammed Hanif were shortlisted for the 2013 Prize for South Asian Literature.