BJP says no to Pak poet, event cancelled in Ajmer

BJP’s Ajmer district president Arvind Yadav said, “We were opposed to the programme being organised by the ALF as it was featuring a Pakistani while the environment is not conducive, in the backdrop of terror attacks by Pakistan.”

A literary discussion on ‘shayari’ on either side of the border, between Indian poet and lyricist A M Turaz and Pakistani poet Abbas Tabish, scheduled for Monday in Ajmer district, was cancelled following a “request” from BJP district president.

“A discussion on ‘Shayari: sarhad se parey’ was scheduled for 6:30 pm at Jawahar Rangmanch between Turaz and Tabish. However, following a call from BJP district president Arvind Yadav, we had to cancel the programme,” said Rasbihari Gaur, convenor of Ajmer Literary Festival (ALF).

Gaur said that every few months, a literary programme is organised in Ajmer as part of the “ALF series”, culminating with the three-day ALF in September. “We had contacted the district administration and they had extended their full support. However, Yadav then made a ‘request’ to me over phone, so we decided to cancel the programme and avoid an unpleasant situation,” Gaur said. “Yadav said the environment is not right to hold such a programme as there is immense anger among the people owing to recent terror acts by Pakistan,” he said.

BJP’s Ajmer district president Arvind Yadav said, “We were opposed to the programme being organised by the ALF as it was featuring a Pakistani while the environment is not conducive, in the backdrop of terror attacks by Pakistan.”

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