Pakistan scared of true Indian patriot Anupam Kher

Pakistan's intolerance towards India has been exposed once again after it denied a visa to acclaimed Indian actor Anupam Kher for him to take part in Karachi Literature Festival starting on February 5. The fact that Kher, who was awarded the coveted Padma Bhushan on Republic Day, has been denied a visa for the third occasion proves Pakistan's nervousness to host someone who feels proud of India and does not mince words in taking on the terrorists over the fate of Kashmiri Pandits.

The latest episode reiterates the point that an unequal relation exists between Pakistan and India where the latter extends courtesies to its neighbouring country but is not reciprocated by the neighbouring country in cultural, economic and other fields.

For instance, on the economic front, though India granted the MFN (most favoured nation) status to Pakistan in 1996, the neighbouring country is yet to reciprocate. Pakistan does not treat India equally here despite the WTO agreements which mandate that countries cannot normally discriminate between their trading partners.

As far as the matter of cultural relations between the two countries is concerned, just recently, India went to the extent of granting citizenship to Pakistani singer and musician. There is a long list of Pakistani actors such as Zeba Bakhtiar (Henna, Jai Vikrant, Stuntman), Fawad Khan (Khubsoorat), Ali Zafar (Chashme Baddoor), Meera (Nazar), Somy Ali (Anth), Javed Sheikh (Chak De India), Meesha Shafi (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag), Mohsin Khan (Batwaara, Saathi), Karachi-born Salma Agha (Nikaah) and her daughter Sasha Agha, and Veena Malik have either acted in Bollywood films - many of them superhits - or are trying to find a foothold in Indian cinema.

Pakistani singers such as Atif Aslam, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Mehdi Hassan have performed in India. One whole Indian generation grew up humming Pakistani singer Nazia Hassan and her brother Zoheb Hassan's foot-tapping numbers in the album Disco Deewane. Nazia had sung a superhit song Aap jaisa koi in Qurbani. Even Pakistani standup comedians have received equal affection as their Indians counterparts.

But the Indian actors, singers and musicians have not got the same treatment in Pakistan. Naseeruddin Shah has acted in two Pakistani movies - Khuda Ke Liye (2007) and Zinda Bhaag (2013) - and incidentally Anupam Kher's wife Kirron Kher in Khamosh Pani (2013).

The extra-affection shown by Indian audience to the Pakistani artists has led to heart burn among some artists back home. For instance, Abhijeet hates them and went to the extent of calling Ghulam Ali a "dengue artist" from a "terrorist country". But that has not stopped India to grant visa to Pakistani artists.

Of course, there have been some unpleasant incidents involving the Pakistani artists but the Indian government was nowhere in picture unlike Pakistan whose government denied visa to Anupam Kher. For instance, Ghulam Ali's show was cancelled in Mumbai due to vehement protests from Shiv Sena activists. However, he was invited by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her Uttar Pradesh counterpart Akhilesh Yadav, among others, and the Ghulam Ali performed in Kolkata recently.

Similarly, Shiv Sena smeared Sudheendra Kulkarni's face with black paint hours before the launch of former Pakistani foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri's book Neither a hawk, nor a dove - An insider's account of Pakistan's foreign policy in October in Mumbai. Also, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shahryar Khan could not meet his Indian counterpart Shashank Manohar, again due to protests from the Shiv Sena. But neither Ghulam Ali nor Kasuri nor Khan were denied visa by the Indian government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to Pakistan by making an unscheduled stopover in Karachi to greet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif on his birthday and to attend his granddaughter's wedding while returning to India from Afghanistan.

This outreach was to strengthen the hands of Sharif. Any snub to Sharif will only embolden the hawkish elements like the Pakistani army, ISI, terrorists and the clergy. Similarly, a snub to Anupam Kher will embolden Pakistan-baiters like the Shiv Sena and the fringe elements in India.