Anupam Kher denied Pak visa for literary fest

Actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sympathiser Anupam Kher has been denied a visa by Pakistan to attend a literary festival in Karachi beginning Friday.

The Pakistani High Commission in Delhi, however, claimed on Tuesday that Kher had never applied for a visa.

Kher was one of the 18 Indians invited to the four-day event by the organisers, but he is the only one who has been denied visa.

The other 17 Indian participants who have been given the travel document included senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid and actor Nandita Das.

The noted actor, who has just been honoured with the Padma Bhushan, on Tuesday said that he was very “sad and disappointed” over the issue and wondered whether he was denied visa for raising the issue of Kashmiri Pandits, supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and for being a patriot.

“I am very sad and disappointed that so many people were given visa but I was the only one who has been denied it. We welcome their artistes in India. If there are objections to their performance at one place in India they are welcome at other places. But there is no reciprocity,” he said.

When contacted, Pakistan High Commission’s head of media Manzoor Memon said Kher had never submitted visa application to Pakistan High Commission. “So the question of issuing or denying him visa does not arise.”

But the organisers of the annual Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) said they are unaware of the reasons for rejection of visa to the actor.

Ameena Syed, the spokesperson for the KLF, said that they had been advised by the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi to tell Kher not to submit a visa application as he would not be issued one.

“That is all we have been told. They told us that the remaining 17 guests invited from India should be asked to submit applications as they would be issued visas,” she said.

Kher was also denied a visa last year in May to visit Lahore on an invitation of a Pakistani NGO and security reasons were cited for the decision.

Rejecting Pakistan High Commission’s contention that he had not applied for visa, Kher called it a “laughable explanation”. He said organisers had completed the formalities for the visa.