Farce, tragi-comedy in Kher’s Pakistan visa case
The controversy over the ‘refusal’ of visa by Pakistan to noted actor Anupam Kher, who was to attend the Karachi literature Festival, would have been avoided had the Pakistan High Commission been more transparent in its conduct. It is clear that the Commission messed up the issue by denying that Kher had applied for a visa. But this claim fell flat on the face after the organisers of the event categorically stated that the Pakistan High Commission had told them that, since the actor's name had not been “cleared”, he should not apply for the visa. The director of the function, Ms Ameena Sayed, who is also managing director of Oxford University Press in Pakistan, categorically stated that she had forwarded the names of the Indian participants, including Kher, to the High Commission for visas, but was told that Kher should be told not to proceed with the matter because his name had not been endorsed; the other names received clearance. In light of this revelation, it is strange that the Pakistan High Commission should have resorted to technical explanations to hide the reality. After all, there was no question of Kher applying for a visa after his name had been struck off by the Government of Pakistan as an invitee to the Karachi festival. It was perhaps the late realisation of error which prompted the Pakistani High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit to call up the actor and offer him a visa, and shower praise on his stature as a “great artiste”. But the damage had been done; the last one heard, Kher had politely declined the offer due to preoccupations.
One can only speculate on whether Pakistan's initial refusal had something to do with Kher's vocal support for Kashmiri Pandits and his opposition to Pakistan-backed separatists operating in Kashmir valley. 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. Worse, some of them actually turned into apologists for Pakistan when they said that the actor had not followed proper procedures in seeking the visa. This included a couple of Congress leaders who are regulars on the Pakistani circuit. They maintained this posture even after Ms Sayed unambiguously stated that Kher's name had been rejected from the list; where then was the question of the actor going through the process of applyingIJ Sadly, even members of Kher's film fraternity who were in the forefront of the campaign for tolerance only weeks ago, remained tight-lipped. This behaviour has not only exposed their hypocrisy but also raised doubts over the motives they harboured under the garb of liberalism when they sought to give an impression that tolerance and freedom of speech had come under attack in the tenure of the Narendra Modi Government.