Pakistan writers not invited for South Asian Lit Festival

The three-day South Asian Literature festival, which begins tomorrow, will not feature writers from Pakistan this year.
The literature festival is being organised by the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) at the India International Centre here.
"We did not get permission from the authorities to invite delegates from Pakistan," FOSWAL Founder and President Ajeet Cour told PTI.
Based on the theme of 'Beyond Borders' and 'Endeavoring for peace and tranquility in the region', the festival will see participation from the other eight SAARC countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Malaysia and India among others.
Cour said the festival this year will feature more delegates and writers than its previous editions.

"We have over 150 delegates coming from different SAARC countries this year. This is the highest number of delegates in the history of this festival."

Facing the problem of plenty, Cour said she would have organised a "four-day" festival had she known about the large participation of delegates this time.
"A good number of delegates registered themselves at the last hour and that caused a lot of difficulties. I sincerely apologise to delegates for getting less time to discuss their papers," she added.
Previous editions of the festival have travelled to places like Dhaka, Kathmandu, Lahore, Islamabad, Colombo, Kandy, Thimphu and Male.