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| India-Pakistan |
| Musharraf bans actor Feroze Khan's entry into Pak |
| 2006-05-18 |
| Upset over his reported remarks criticising Pakistan during his recent visit, President Pervez Musharraf has banned veteran Bollywood actor Feroze Khan from entering the country. "He (Khan) has misbehaved, abused our hospitality which was not acceptable, therefore he is barred from entering Pakistan," Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told PTI today. "The President House has taken serious notice of his remarks which were widely covered in the Indian and Pakistani media and directed the concerned authorities to blacklist him and impose a ban on his entry into Pakistan," private ARY channel reported quoting sources in the Presidency. It said the President's decision has been communicated to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. The 67-year-old actor, during his visit to Pakistan last month for the premiere of his brother Akbar Khan's film 'Taj Mahal', had reportedly made the comments in Lahore on April 26 highlighting comfort levels of Muslims in India in comparison to that in Pakistan, setting off a heated verbal exchange between him and local compere Fakher-e-Alam, and trigerring a controversy here. "I am a proud Indian. India is a secular country. Muslims there are making a lot of progress. Our President is a Muslim, Prime Minister a Sikh. Pakistan was made in the name of Islam but look how the Muslims are killing each other," he was quoted as saying by a Pakistani daily last month. Soon after airing Musharraf's orders banning Khan's entry, local Geo TV telecast a cartoon video titled 'Feroze Khan, Fakhar-e-Hindustan' depicting him in an inebriated condition. Ever since the controversy erupted, Fakher-e-Alam, also a pop singer, has been appearing in Pakistani TV channels accusing Khan of insulting and hurting Pakistan's pride in an inebriated state. Many Pakistani film stars and producers have objected to Khan using the platform of his brother's film's premiere to make "controversial remarks," but they have also been pleading that this was an isolated incident which should not be allowed to spoil the unprecedented friendly ties evolving between the two countries. Alam himself has been a frequent visitor to India and regularly interviewed Bollywood stars for Pakistani TV channels. After the Pakistan government gave permission to screen 'Taj Mahal' and new print of 'Mughal-e-Azam', expectations were high that Islamabad would lift the four-decade-old ban on Indian films. But there are apprehensions here that the Feroze Khan episode was being played up by opponents of the peace process to spoil the friendly relations. The other Indian film stars and delegates accompanying Khan to the premiere of 'Taj Mahal' had reportedly apologised to Alam for the incident. |
| Posted by:john |