A few confidence-denting measures

<div class="section0"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">NEW DELHI: Stacked among the pile of CBMs on the platter of Indo-Pak ties, one that speaks of increased cultural interaction is being taken by some with a pinch of salt. The reason: a spate of visa rejections and denial of permission to perform to some eminent Indian artistes.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">The cynicism is not misplaced.So it doesn''t come as a surprise when actor Raza Murad says the measures are "only limited to paper". Denied a visa for a private visit to meet his relatives in Pakistan, he blames the bureaucratic setup for prejudices against artistes. "How can there be proper cultural interaction if getting a visa for Pakistan is so hard? Artistes going for a private visit are meeting such hurdles," he said. Classical singer Shubha Mudgal, who did not get an answer from Pakistani authorities for a government cultural exchange program, says: "I don''t take it personally, but when there is so much talk about cultural interaction, I find it extremely strange for something like this to happen." </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">"At the bureaucratic level things have not changed," she says. But she adds this won''t get in the way of her working with Pakistani artists. She cites an example of how the family of legendary poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz also gave her permission to record his works without any pre-conditions or motives. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">Deputy high commissioner of Pakistan Munawar Syeed Bhatti says there was some discrepancy in details provided by Mudgal and her application was sent back for clarifications. She was not denied a visa, he says. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">Mudgal claims no clarifications were sought until the travel date lapsed. Another singer vocal about his displeasure at being denied permission to perform for a fund-raiser at Karachi is Abhijeet. "There were no reasons given. It is easy for Pakistani artistes to come here and work for months but very difficult for Indian artists to even go there for 2-3 days," he says.</span></div> </div>