Visa row: Now Anupam Kher rejects Pakistan High Commissioner’s offer

“I appreciate it. Unfortunately i’ve given away those dates now”.

After the hubbub over alleged denial of visa to actor Anupam Kher, Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit on Wednesday called the actor and offered him a visa to attend the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) beginning February 5. “Kher’s tweet was in response to the Pakistan High Commissioner’s tweet which read, “@AnupamPkher you are always welcome Sir. “You are a great artiste; we respect and admire you”, Basit posted on Twitter. While 17 of the 18 Indians who were scheduled to go for the event received their visas, the 60-year-old said he was “singled out”. So, there was no question of denying him a visa. The actor also suggested that the decision might have been influenced by his stand on the issue of Kashmiri Pandits and his support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Later in the day, Pakistani officials said that he would be given visa within hours if he applied.

About the Anupam Kher’s visa issue, Das explained that even if Pakisan’s bureaucracy came in the of way of issuance of visa, she would separate this bureaucratic roadblock from genuine efforts to strengthen friendship between the two countries. In light of this revelation, it is unusual that the Pakistan High Commission should have resorted to technical explanations to hide the reality. But what is surprising is that people who have been in recent times most vocal about “intolerance”, raised a stink over opposition to performances in India by Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali, and even returned their awards over “threats to freedom of expression”, maintained a deafening silence on the treatment Kher was meted out.