National Urdu Council withdraws conference invite to nine Pak scholars

Surjit kumar Dhal, New Delhi, Feb 20: The National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language has withdrawn its invitation to nine Pakistani litterateurs for the World Urdu Conference in wake of the Pulwama attack, officials said Tuesday.

            The NCPUL, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD), was set up to promote, develop and propagate Urdu language.

            “The coward attack which has taken place in Pulwama has left the entire country furious. A country which is involved in such acts, it is not a wise thing to invite their writers to the celebrate literature here,” said NCUPL Director Aquil Ahmed.

            “We have withdrawn our invitation to nine Pakistani writers for the conference to register our protest against the attack and keeping the sentiments of the country in mind,” Ahmed added.

            The Wold Urdu Conference, an annual event organised by NCPUL, is scheduled to be held next month and will witness participation of Urdu scholars from across the globe.