Military regime 'forced' writer to leave

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, APRIL 3. Pakistani poet, Mr. Aftab Husain, said here today that he was compelled to leave Pakistan after severe harassment by Pakistani security officials.

Mr. Husain, an assistant professor in a Lahore college, is on a 60-day visa to India.

He arrived here on March 16 after being threatened with ``dire consequences'' by the military regime and asked to depose against the ousted Pakistani Prime Minister, Mr. Nawaz Sharif.

The 38-year-old Urdu poet is allegedly being harassed for having published Dr. Jameel Akhtar's Urdu translation of the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee's poetry collection in Pakistan.

``The allegation against me is that I got the book published at the behest of Mr. Nawaz Sharif, former Pakistani Prime Minister, to glorify Mr. Vajpayee as an intellectual and a poet,'' Mr. Husain told reporters here.

``I just wanted to secure a breathing space in India. That is why I came here,'' said the poet who has brought out a large number of Urdu translations of poems and short stories from Hindi and Indian regional languages. ``They want to make me a gawaah (witness) against Mr. Sharif,'' he said.

Narrating the sequence of events which led to his publishing ``Jang Na Hone Denge,'' he said ``when Mr. Vajpayee's visit to Lahore was imminent, the relationship between the two countries had become quite friendly and people from both sides of the border were very optimistic and were considering that visit as a virtual breakthrough''.

``That was the time I decided to get the book published. Though I am not a political person, being a humanist and democrat like millions of my compatriots, I am always dreaming of a peaceful atmosphere in the region and that is the goal I have been working for,'' he said.

The Pakistani poet said he had only wished that ``Jang Na Hone Denge'' , dedicated to Indo- Pakistan friendship might give yet another fillip to Indo-Pak cordiality.

``The book was published with a flap by myself which depicts these sentiments,'' he said.

Mr. Husain pointed out that the gesture was acclaimed by the Pakistan people and the Government of Pakistan as well.

``I was asked to present that book to the honorable guest on behalf of the Pakistani people and especially from the writers' community during a farewell ceremony at Governor House, Lahore.

According to him, after the military takeover, he and his family members were constantly harassed for publishing the book.

``I explained to them that the book was just a goodwill gesture from our writers' fraternity and that the Nawaz Sharif Government had nothing to do with that book.''

``In the beginning, these people spoke mildly, but slowly their tone grew quite aggressive. Then they contacted and persuaded me to record the statement against Nawaz Sharif which I again refused. And then finally they raided my house in Lahore on March 4, while I was in Karachi to attend a mushaira.''

Pointing out that he had no option but to leave his motherland, Mr. Husain said he loved his country and was not against the people. ``They are very peace-loving.''

However, he added that freedom of speech and expression mattered to him most and ``as a writer, I think even though we are politically divided, we are culturally one. That is why I chose to come here''.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Previous : Medha Patkar rushed to hospital
Next     : Talks on resuming flights inconclusive