Top Palestinian leader Leila Khalid along with 16 other scholars from different countries including Lebanon, India, Syria, Iraq, Iran and the United States who were keen to participate in the World Social Forum in Karachi have been denied visa.
Speaking at a news conference at Karachi Press Club on Saturday Fahimuzaman Khan, spokesman of Pakistan Organising Committee, World Social Forum disclosed that Leila Khalid, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti and Jamal Juma from Palestine, Dr. Ali Fayyad, and Prof. Dr. Mohsen Moh’d Suleiman Saleh from Lebanon, Ban Ibrahim, and Dr. Kamal Majid, Haifa Zangana, Prof. Dr. Saad Naji Jawad from Iraq, eminent historian Irfan Habib and Subashni Ali, and Saeed Naqvi from India, Prof. Dr. Georges Nicola Jabbour and Prof. Dr. Ali Atassi from Syria, Cindy Sheehan from the United States, Rakhsha Banietmad from Iran and Prof. Dr. Mundhar Adhmi were denied visa by security agencies on the plea that following parliamentary elections on February 18 the political climate in Pakistan was not conducive.
Fahimuzaman Khan, a former administrator of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) was flanked by eminent psychiatrist Prof. S. Haroon Ahmed. Prof. Tipu Sultan and well known trade union leader Usman Baloch. The distinguished guests were invited to participate in a Public Assembly and the Conference on West Asia.
The proposed public assembly and the conference were being organized at City Sports Complex and Pakistan Institute of International Affairs. Now it is likely to take place in March this year.