KARACHI: In the wake of the recent Pulwama attack in Indian-occupied Kashmir, veteran Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi and her lyricist/poet husband Javed Akhtar came forth announcing that they have cancelled their trip to Karachi.
The duo was invited to attend a conference aimed at celebrating posthumously the distinguished work of notable sub-continent poet Kaifi Azmi, Shabana Azmi's father.
However, with rising tensions between India and Pakistan, the couple decided to pull out of the event.
Shedding light on the matter, Karachi Arts Council President Ahmed Shah, spoke about the issue at length on today's episode of Geo News morning show Geo Pakistan.
Speaking to program hosts Huma and Abdullah, Shah elucidated further on the matter, saying that the couple has decided not to grace the event in lieu of mounting pressure on them.
Shah further added that he was in correspondence with the couple, specially Shabana, who seemed to have pulled out of the event, as an organic consequence of the unfortunate incident.
However, Shah said, she did not express any resentment, but was rather cordial.
He added that while Shabana is a strong, assertive woman who stands her ground, Javed Akhtar is comparatively docile and a 'coward'.
Shah also stated that extremism in India has reached an all-time-high, specially under Prime Minister's Narendra Modi's rule, and all this has tragically occurred as a repercussion of that.
"India has banned Pakistani artistes, yet Pakistan continues to showcase its movies. Even now 'Gully Boy', directed by Javed Akhtar's daughter Zoya Akhtar, has screenings lined up that are being showed to 'jam packed audiences'," Shah said.
He added, "According to me, all this is a result of the 2019 general pre-election tension that's made to favour Modi, as he lost the State Assembly elections in six states."
Speaking on the future of the Kaifi Azmi Conference, the esteemed President said that he has received calls from people in India, who have asked him to not lose hope.
"You see, people in India have called me and asked me not to lose hope in the conference. I always tell them, all this is directly linked to the upcoming April-May general elections in India."
Shah went on to add, "I believe dialogues between India and Pakistan will never cease to exist."