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| Denial of visa to Indian activists, artistes | | | NEW DELHI, MAR 25
Pakistan government has triggered a fresh controversy over the visa regime in relation to Indians. A large number of Indian artistes and social activists have been denied visas during the last few days, disturbing various scheduled events, particularly in Lahore, and contradicting the Pakistani Foreign Office's stance that visa issuing policies have not been tightened.
Although both the Pakistani and Indian governments are generally very sensitive and careful about issuing visas, this time it seems as if the Pakistan government has issued strict instructions concerning visa issuance to Indians in the post-Samjhauta Express tragedy scenario.
Out of the total of 110 Indian social activists and intellectuals who applied, only 34 were granted visas to attend the annual moot of South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR) held in Lahore last week. Renowned human rights activist and organiser of the SAHR moot, Asma Jehangir, criticised the Interior and Foreign ministries, saying that there are not any discernable criteria for granting or declining visas. She said that the organisers made repeated attempts to contact the Pakistan Interior Minister but failed as they were constantly told that he was not available at all.
“Not just me, but the likes of I.A. Rehman, Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim, Dr Mubahsar Hassan and Saira Irshad tried their best but in vain,” Asma Jehangir was quoted as saying. Her argument: “If the ministries are bound to act on the instructions of ISI, they should get out of the way and let us deal with ISI people directly". She added: “We can deal with them in a better way”. Five Indian puppeteers due to take part in the second National Folk Puppet Festival at the Museum of Puppetry could not enter Pakistan because they were not ‘cleared’ by the authorities.
The Folk Puppet Festival, which is underway in Pakistan these days, has been organised by the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop (RPTW), a name well-known in Pakistan for organising several international festivals, particularly the World Performing Arts Festival. This is not the first time that they invited Indian artistes to perform in their festival, but it may well be the first time that all the Indian participants were denied visas.
The 4th Panj Pani Indo-Pak Theatre Festival which was scheduled to be held from March 24 to 31 has also been postponed due to non-issuance of visas to Indian artistes. The eight-day festival is held annually in Lahore under the aegis of Ajoka Theatre in collaboration with the Lahore Arts Council. The Lahore administration has announced April 16 to April 23 as new dates for the festival, but, the director of Ajoka Theatre, well-known TV artiste Madeeha Gauhar, said that these dates are also tentative as there is still uncertainty regarding when visas may be issued to the Indian artistes.
Nonetheless, she seemed hopeful and said that maybe this time they would not have to postpone the festival. “As many as eight different theatre groups, comprised 112 Indian artistes, have applied for visas but the matter is still pending”, Madeeha added.
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