MUMBAI LAUNCH OF FORMER PAK FOREIGN MINISTER’S BOOK AIMED AT NORMALIZING INDO-PAK RELATIONS, SAYS ORGANIZER SUDHEENDRA KULKARNI
MUMBAI — After ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali, Shiv Sena on Saturday asked management of a city-based convention center here to call off former Pakistani foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri’s book launch function, reported Press Trust of India.
Citing the neighboring country’s support to terrorism as the reason behind the opposition, the party warned that the function will be disrupted if not canceled.
Sena vibhag pramukh Ashish Chemburkar submitted a letter to director of Nehru Planetarium here, demanding that the event be cancelled and organisers informed accordingly.
“The people at Nehru Planetarium where the event is scheduled, told us they will try to cancel it,” Chemburkar said.
“We have informed them that we will disrupt the event if it is not canceled,” he said.
The Observer Research Foundation Mumbai, which is organizing the event, on Friday approached Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, seeking “adequate security” to Kasuri after cancellation of Ghulam Ali’s concert in the city.
Kasuri will launch the book ‘Neither a Hawk nor a Dove: An Insider’s Account of Pakistan’s Foreign Policy’, in Mumbai on October 12 at the Hall of Culture, Nehru Centre, Worli.
“Our purpose in organizing this function is to make our own humble contribution to the much-needed normalization of relations between India and Pakistan. Kasuri’s widely appreciated book shows his strong commitment to peaceful and cooperative ties between our two countries,” ORF Chairman Sudheendra Kulkarni had said.
“The launch of the book will be accompanied by a panel discussion, in which the speakers are: A G Noorani, eminent jurist, historian and author; Naseeruddin Shah, renowned film and theatre personality; and Dileep Padgaonkar, eminent journalist and columnist,” Kulkarni, who will moderate the talk, had said.
During his stay in Mumbai between October 11 and 14, Kasuri, besides attending the book launch function, will also visit Mani Bhavan and Jinnah House “if possible”, he said.
Kasuri will also meet veteran movie star Dilip Kumar at his residence.
In a letter to Fadnavis, Kulkarni asked the state government to provide adequate and fool-proof security to Kasuri during his stay here.
Security for Kasuri has become all the more necessary in view of the condemnable episode a few days ago when a concert in Mumbai by Ghulam Ali was called off because of the Shiv Sena’s threat to the organizers of the event, he had said.