The
literary
and
arts
community
of
Pakistan
has
expressed
disappointment
over
veteran
Indian
actress
Shabana
Azmi
and
her
lyricist-writer
husband
Javed
Akhtar
cancelling,
in
the
wake
of
the
Pulwama
terror
attack,
their
Karachi
visit
to
attend
Kaifi
Azmi's
birth
centenary
celebrations.
"Shabana
and
Javed
sahab
have
always
been
seen
as
progressive
people
who
have
spoken
out
in
favour
of
bettering
Indo-Pak
relations.
So
their
reaction
to
the
Pulwama
incident
has
come
as
a
surprise
to
the
arts
and
literary
community
in
Karachi," Omair
Alavi,
a
well-known
film
critic,
said.
On
Saturday,
the
Arts
Council
of
Pakistan,
Karachi,
regretted
the
two
artistes' decision.
Arts
Council
president
Ahmed
Shah
also
expressed
regrets
over
Akhtar's
comments.
"His
comments
do
not
seem
appropriate
for
a
literary
person."
In
one
of
the
deadliest
terror
attacks
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir's
three
decades
of
militancy,
a
Jaish
suicide
bomber
rammed
an
explosives-laden
vehicle
into
a
CRPF
bus
in
Pulwama
district,
killing
at
least
40
personnel
and
leaving
many
critically
wounded.
Azmi
on
Friday
said
she
and
her
husband
Javed
Akhtar
have
decided
not
to
attend
Kaifi
Azmi's
birth
centenary
celebrations
in
Karachi.
The
couple
was
invited
to
Pakistan
by
the
Karachi
Arts
Council
for
a
two-day
event.
After
the
attack,
Azmi
said
she
feels
weakened
in
her
belief
that
people-to-people
contact
can
force
the
establishment
to
do
the
right
thing.
The
Arts
Council
president
said
he
felt
sorry
that
Azmi
has
lost
hope.
"I
don't
criticise
her
but
we
deeply
feel
saddened
the
way
she
had
expressed
disappointment
after
the
Pulwama
attack," he
said.
"We
firmly
believe
that
artistes
and
people
who
are
regarded
for
their
literary
and
artistic
contribution
are
the
ones
who
give
hope
to
people.
They
never
disappoint
them.
But
this
time,
Shabana
Azmi
sounds
extremely
disappointed."
The
Arts
Council
is
organising
a
conference
on
Feb
23
and
24
to
mark
the
100th
birth
anniversary
of
poet
Kaifi
Azmi.
Many
celebrated
poets
and
literary
personalities
from
Pakistan
and
other
parts
of
the
world
have
been
invited
for
the
event.
Shabana
Azmi
and
Javed
Akhtar
had
earlier
this
month
confirmed
their
visit
to
the
city
to
attend
the
two-day
event.
Veteran
actor,
Shakeel
also
expressed
sadness
that
the
husband
and
wife
were
not
coming.
"The
sadder
part
is
that
after
always
having
spoken
up
against
extremism
and
in
favour
of
people-to-people
contact,
they
have
now
given
up
hope," he
said.
Meanwhile,
Pakistani
cinema
theatre
owners,
distributors
and
exhibitors
fear
their
business
would
take
a
hit
as
they
expect
a
strong
reaction
from
the
Indian
cinema
industry.
Nadeem
Mandiwalla,
a
a
well-known
importer,
distributor
and
exhibitor
of
Indian
films,
who
also
owns
cinepax
in
Karachi
and
other
cities,
said
he
feared
for
the
worse.
"The
way
things
are
going,
I
fear
very
soon
we
will
be
seeing
the
Indian
film
industry
also
stop
export
of
their
films
to
Pakistani
distributors
like
it
happened
few
years
back,"
he
said.
Nadeem
said
if
Indian
films
were
not
made
available,
it
would
badly
hit
the
Pakistani
entertainment
industry,
especially
the
cinema
owners
and
related
businesses.
Credits
-
PTI