The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on Monday sought to put to rest the controversy about being one of the sponsors of the Karachi literary Festival by saying that it only funded the air tickets of four Indian authors as per practice and has nothing to do with the sponsorship of the event.
“We only bought air tickets for four Indian authors and we did so at the recommendation of our High Commission in Islamabad. We have not sponsored the KlF. We have a very limited role,” Director General of the ICCR Amarendra Khatua said.
A senior official from ICCR clarified that the names of four persons — Urvashi Butalia, Preeti Shenoy, Mamang Dai and Saif Mehmood — were cleared by the Indian Government last year to participate in Karachi literary Festival that was held from February 10-12. “The names were approved in 2016 and the implementation took place now,” said the official. About Rs1.4 lakh was spent on the air tickets of these four persons.
Indian High Commissioner to Islamabad Gautam Bambawale also attended the inauguration of the KlF where he said India wishes to see a Pakistan which abjures violence and takes strong preventive action against terrorists and extremists. “India wishes to see a Pakistan which does not distinguish between good and bad terrorists but instead moves against all such elements irrespective of whom their hatred is directed against,” he said in a statement.