Karachi Literature Festival: Pakistan asked organisers not to invite me, says Anupam Kher

Update: 5:50 pm IST:

Anupam Kher held a press conference to talk about he being denied visa by Pakistan. He defended himself saying he didn't ask for the visa personally, and the organisers of Karachi Literature Festival did. The actor further said the government of Pakistan asked the organisers to not invite him at the event.

"For last 15 days, all my visa documents are ready, (sic)" ANI quoted Anupam Kher as saying during the press conference. He also said he was not angry but sad and hurt. 

ANI further tweeted Kher's take on the visa denial issue. 

"The organizer of the Karachi lit fest said that Govt officials told her that don't invite Anupam Kher.I don't know why (sic)," he wrote.

"I was probably the only actor from Bollywood who wrote an open letter condemning attack on Peshawar school," Kher said.

"Want to know what others who are invited to Karachi think about me being denied visa, but yes I don't have anything against them," ANI tweeted.

"Yes I will go to Pakistan if I am given a visa in the future."

"I salute Amina ji, the organizer of Karachi lit fest, she categorically blamed Pakistan High Commission," Kher said during the media interaction.

1:15 pm IST 

Kher, who was allegedly denied a Pakistani visa, claimed the Pakistan High Commission was lying about he not having applied for the visa. According to the actor, his point of view on Kashmiri Pandits was one of the reasons behind he not being granted visa.

"Pak High Commission is lying, rest of the 17 people got visa only I was denied-Anupam Kher," Kher told ANI.

"Maybe its due to my point of view on Kashmiri Pandits or my pro-PM stand-Anupam Kher on Pak visa denied," he added.

Original story:

Pakistan has denied visa to Bollywood actor Anupam Kher, who had been invited to the Karachi literature festival. The actor and BJP supporter claimed that out of 18 delegates, he was the only one to be denied a visa.

He took to his Twitter handle to express his disappointment. "Delay is the deadliest form of denial," he tweeted. The actor was supposed to attend the literature fest which is to start on Friday. "I am very sad & disappointed that out of 18 participants 17 were given visa & I was denied," he told ANI.

On the other hand, Pakistani officials said that the actor had not even applied for the visa. "He has not submitted a visa application. Please check from him if he has any receipt," NDTV quoted Pakistan High Commission spokesperson Manzoor Ali Memon as saying.

Kher has been in the news for a long time for various reasons. He was recently honoured with one of the top civilian awards, Padma Bhushan. Kher posted messages on Twitter to celebrate his award, but he was trolled for a tweet dated 2010 in which he had dismissed the Padma honours as inauthentic.

Also, Kher's war of words with Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Twitter became the talk of the town. Tharoor took a dig at Kher for saying he was scared to openly accept that he was a Hindu. Responding to this, Tharoor tweeted, "Come on Anupam. I say it all the time. I'm a proud Hindu. Just not the Sangh's kind of Hindu. @AnupamPkher." This didn't go well with the veteran actor and he called Tharoor "Congi Chamcha."

Kher was last seen in Salman Khan's "Prem Ratan Dhan Payo". He was recently spotted at his step-son Sikander Kher's engagement as well.