Pakistani artists banned in India post terror attacks

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Since the Mumbai attacks Pakistani singer Gulam Ali cancelled his multi-city tour of India and comedian Shakeel Siddiqui was driven out of Mumbai. As Pakistani artists like debutant author Daniyal Mueenuddin receive world wide acclaim but will they be welcomed in India?

 

Daniyal Mueenuddin is set to be 2009's literary sensation. His debut In Other Rooms, Other Wonders received world-wide acclaim and has been applauded by many including Willam Darlymple and Salman Rushdie. The book is a collection of eight stories that covers contemporary life in Pakistan from its megacities to its feudal rural villages. But here in Mumbai if political parties like the Shiv Sena and the MNS who promote an embargo of Pakistani writers had their way, Mueenuddin's book would be shelved.

 

Amay Khopkar, Chairman, MNS Cime Worker Association said, "MNS Chief Raj Thackrey said that after terrorist attacks of 26/11 Pakistani artists, singers or players should not be allowed in Mumbai."

 

Yale Graduate and former New York Lawyer Mueenuddin, gives us his take on such bans. He said, ""Look it's not the artists and the authors who are attacking your country. In fact the people who are attacking India are exactly the same ones who, if given the opportunity, would attack us. We are on your side we want peace and prosperity."

 

Pakistani authors like Mueenuddin can be found on bookshelves across the country but big bookstores like Crossword and Oxford in Mumbai do not want to comment on the ban or the authors fearing aggressive reactions.

 

With inputs from CNBC-TV18's Tarini Awatramani