ISLAMABAD: Scholars and academics from all over Pakistan have been banned from attending the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) conference being hosted in India next month, despite the event officially being open to scholars of Asian Studies from around the world.
Foreign Office spokesperson Dr. Muhammad Faisal called the move “predictable” and told Arab News, “We have been saying all along that the rise of extremism in India is very disturbing, and now they are stifling debate between academics. What more can we say?”
A letter from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, addressed to Ashoka University, co-organizer of the conference, which runs from July 5 to July 8 in Delhi, stated, “This ministry has no objection from a political angle for the proposed event with foreign participants (as per the list attached) (except participants from Pakistan), as stated in your aforesaid communication, subject to clearance of Ministry of Home affairs as applicable ... ministry.”
The AAS distanced itself from India’s decision to bar Pakistanis from taking part in the conference in a statement that read, “The fact that the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India has decided to deny visas to Pakistani scholars (including scholars of Pakistani origin who are citizens of other countries) to attend the AAS-in-Asia conference in Delhi is not in tune with the open exchange of ideas and knowledge that is the very purpose of the conference.”
The statement added: “Neither the Association for Asian Studies nor Ashoka University has the authority to tell the Government of India, a sovereign nation, to whom it may and may not grant visas, and nor have we been able to influence the Government of India to reverse its decision in this case.”
When asked if there had been any communication between Pakistan and India regarding the conference, Dr. Faisal said, “(The Indian authorities) do not listen to anyone; they have taken an ultra-right-wing approach and refuse to budge from it no matter what the consequences.”
Foreign scholars were told to apply for an Indian visa with a copy of the invitation and no-objection certificates from the ministries of external affairs and home affairs. The political clearance letter from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, however, includes instructions from the Indian government explicitly singling Pakistan out and removing Pakistan’s name from the list of 57 countries participating in the conference.
The statement released by the AAS also said that the decision to host the conference in Delhi was made prior to the letter sent by the Indian government. “Unfortunately, by the time we learned of the Government of India’s decision, the planning for the conference had been underway for a number of years. The Government of India’s decision was communicated in a letter from the Ministry of External Affairs dated February 2018. Negotiations to hold the 5th AAS-in-Asia conference in collaboration with Ashoka University began in 2014, and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in December 2016.
“We deeply regret the governmental decision preventing Pakistani scholars from physically attending the conference,” it continued. “The affected delegates were informed in March, and since then, we have refunded registration fees for them and have made efforts to facilitate their participation by arranging for them to present their papers via Skype.”
Earlier this year, 30 Pakistani doctors set to participate in the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) conference in Delhi in March were refused visas.
In May, Moneeza Hashmi — daughter of the legendary poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, admired equally by Pakistanis and Indians — was denied entry into India, despite being a speaker at the 15th Asia Media Summit in Delhi. In a tweet addressed to the Indian Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, Hashmi’s son Ali wrote, “This is your Shining India? My 72-year-old mother, daughter of Faiz, denied permission to participate in conference after being officially invited. Shame.”
“If they are going to target academics and doctors, and they do not want to coexist like civilized nations do, then there is little we can do about it,” Dr. Faisal told Arab News.
