It is paperwork, say mission officials; it is my sobering thought process, says the poet.
It is paperwork, say mission officials; it is my sobering thought process, says the poet.
Shabana Ansari/Seema Guha
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: There are few elements in the bureaucratic process that rhyme with the impulses of the artistic feeling. Javed Akhtar is the latest figure to be stymied by procedural obscurity and he has been expressing his bemusement in measured cadences of ire.
Akhtar, who was scheduled to visit Karachi with other Bollywood personalities on Saturday to attend the premiere of Mughal-e-Azam, has been denied a visa by Pakistan.
But while the celebrated poet has read dire political significance in the rejection, Pakistani officials point to regulatory considerations.
“The only reason for their action seems to be the fact that I am too frank and outspoken for their comfort,” Akhtar said.
A junior diplomat in the Pakistani mission, however, matched Akhtar’s fuming rhetoric. “People expect us to be waiting with garlands and a stamp to immediately give them the visa,” he said. “But there is a process involved and we have to go through that.”
Akhtar was part of a 22-member delegation that was to attend the premiere of K Asif’s magnum opus. A day later, the film personalities were going to participate in a telethon to raise funds for Pakistani earthquake victims.
Meanwhile, the issue is escalating into a controversy in a manner of a dramatic diplomatic feud. PTV, the state-owned broadcaster and sponsor of the Indian delegation, has pulled out of the arrangement without explanation.
The Indian side has also assumed an intransigent position. Speaking to DNA from London, the organiser of the event and K Asif’s son, Akbar Asif, said if Akhtar cannot attend the show, nobody else will. “I have great respect for Javedsaab and will not tolerate it if he is insulted in this manner,” he said.
The unfolding row makes it even more difficult to answer Akhtar’s puzzled question: “I am the only one who has been refused a visa. I don’t understand what kind of a threat I pose to that country.”
The Pakistanis, on the other hand, are using the fact that other actors have been granted visas as an expedient to refute claims of mala fide intentions. “Akhtar is not travelling alone but with a huge delegation. Why should we pick on him?” the diplomat who spoke to DNA said.
Several Bollywood actors, including Saif Ali Khan, Urmila Matondkar, Akhtar’s wife Shabana Azmi, and Zeenat Aman, are supposed to attend the event.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}