Saturday, October 2, 2010

Two Pakistani writers miss Kerala literary fest

The third edition of the Kovalam Literary Festival that began here Saturday will be attended by only one Pakistani author - instead of three invited - because of delay in home ministry clearances and outbreak of violence in Pakistan's Punjab province.

The union home ministry had cleared the visit of writer Ali Sethi and H.M. Naqvi to Kerala Sep 29, almost a month after the organisers of the festival moved the government to clear their visit.

Pakistani citizens are usually allowed to land in three Indian cities - Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai - according to home ministry norms, organisers of the festival said.

Young Pakistan-based writer Ali Sethi, the author of 'The Wish Maker', was unable to cross the border at Wagah checkpost in Punjab Friday afternoon from where he was to arrive in New Delhi via Amritsar and fly to Thiruvananthapuram Saturday night.

Full report here Sify

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