Around 80 scholars from universities like Yale, Harvard and Princeton protested against Ministry of External Affairs’ decision to deny visa to Pakistanis to attend the Association of Asian Studies (AAS) – in Asia conference in Delhi from July 5-8.
As the news that Pakistani scholars will not participate in the conference surfaced, the other participants, who were already in Delhi to take part in the event decided to register a crowd-funded protest.
During the protest meeting, they raised enough funds to rent a hall at the venue so scholars from Pakistan could digitally join in, The Indian Express reported. Dr Sameen Mohsin from Lahore University of Management Sciences spoke through a recorded message, statements were read of the others, including Salman Hussain from The Graduate Centre, CUNY.
Dr Mohsin said, “As a scholar of Pakistani origin working on Pakistan, I received the AAS’ reply to the Indian government’s restrictions on Pakistani scholars (including those who are dual nationals but originally from Pakistan) with deep concern and disappointment. I am dismayed with the AAS’ tepid response to the blanket ban — based on the Association’s presumption that this reaction was expected of the Indian government given the tense relations between the two countries.”
The scholars have mooted a resolution that all further AAS conferences be held in countries that “do not have official or unofficial policies” which excludes anyone based on nationality.
Earlier, the MEA had informed Ashoka University that it does not “recommend” participants from Pakistan for the conference. The country’s name was also struck off from the list of participating countries.