Pakistani art community disappointed by Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar cancel Karachi visit

The literary and artistic community of Pakistan expressed disappointment at the famous Indian actress Shabana Azmi and her husband singer-songwriter Javed Akhtar, canceling their visit to Karachi to attend celebrations of the centenary of the birth of Kaifi Azmi. & # 39; & # 39; Shabana and Javed Sahab have always been regarded as progressive people who have spoken out in favor of improving Indo-Pakistan relations. Thus, their reaction to the Pulwama incident was a surprise to the Karachi artistic and literary community, "said Omair Alavi, a well-known film critic.

On Saturday, the Pakistan Arts Council, Karachi, regretted the Chairman of the Arts Council, Ahmed Shah, also expressed regret at Akhtar's comments. "His comments do not seem appropriate for a writer." Azmi said Friday that she and her husband , Javed Akhtar, had decided not to attend the centennial celebrations of the birth of Kaifi Azmi in Karachi, on a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 40 people and injuring many seriously injured. by the Karachi Arts Council for a two-day event.

After the attack, Azmi said that she felt weakened in her belief that contact between people can force the institution to fair e the good thing.The president of the Canada Council said he regretted that Azmi lost all hope. "I do not criticize her, but we are deeply saddened by the way she expressed her disappointment after the Pulwama attack," he said. "We firmly believe that it is the artists and people who are valued for their literary and artistic contributions that give people hope, but they never disappoint, but this time, Shabana Azmi seems extremely disappointed."

The Arts Council is organizing a conference on February 23 and 24 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the poet Kaifi Azmi. Many poets and literary personalities from Pakistan and other parts of the world were invited to the event. Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar confirmed their visit to the city earlier this month to attend the two-day event.

The veteran actor Shakeel also expressed his sadness at not seeing her husband and wife come. "The saddest thing is that after always denouncing extremism and promoting people-to-people contacts, they have now lost hope," he said. At the same time, owners, distributors and exhibitors of Pakistani cinemas fear that their business will suffer as they expect a strong reaction from the Indian film industry.

Nadeem Mandiwalla, a well-known Indian film importer, distributor and operator, has filmmakers in Karachi and other cities, saying he feared the worst. "In the way things are going, I'm afraid that very soon, the Indian film industry will also stop exporting its films to Pakistani distributors, as was the case a few years ago," he said. he declared. Nadeem said that if Indian films were not available, it would seriously affect the Pakistani entertainment industry, especially the owners of movie theaters and related businesses.