Amid the deadly Pulwama attack in Indian Occupied Kashmir, Bollywood veteran actress Shabana Azmi and her husband Javed Akhtar, a renowned lyricist cum writer, have cancelled their trip to Karachi to attend a literary event which was to be held on the upcoming weekend at Arts Council. The couple also went ahead to post hatred mongering tweets hinting over Pakistan being responsible for the fatal attack. The high-profile couple has extremely disappointed their fans across the border with their tweets and decision, including KAC President Ahmed Shah. In a press conference, Shah condemned Akhtar and said that he regretted the couple’s decision, adding that the way Akhtar attacked Pakistan and “crossed the line” did not deem appropriate for a person as literary as him.

Kaifi Azmi Literary Festival was planned to be held on February 24th and 25th at the Arts Council to launch the Kuliyat and other books by Javed Akhtar’s father-in-law, one of the most celebrated poets of the subcontinent.

Shah said that Kaifi Azmi was among the top poets of the subcontinent and we were compiling his poetry as we were endeavoring to conserve the cultural heritage of the sub-continent. He added that he was really disappointed by the last sentence of Shabana’s tweet, which reads, “We shall have to call a halt to these cultural exchanges.”

“We didn’t react because we know that there are people who want to promote hatred,” he added. Emphasizing on the importance of people to people contacts in the present-era for mending relations between countries, Shah said that Shabana and Javed’s refusal to come over for the event was not a good sign for such ties. “I strongly condemn Javed Akhtar. I do respect his talent but I cannot take anything against my country,” Shah concluded.