Indian poet and filmmaker Gulzar’s sudden return to India from Lahore without attending the Karachi Literature Festival where he was supposed to take part fostered many speculations. Despite the poet’s letter to the organisers of the festival apologising for his early return giving the reason that he felt pain in his chest when he visited his birthplace, Dina City, people kept harbouring the notion that there was more to it than met the eye. This implied that there must have been some political reasons which prompted him to go back before honouring his commitment.

Thankfully, his daughter Meghna a few days back came out with a statement urging rumour-mongers on both sides of the divide not to ‘politicise’ her father. According to an Indian newspaper, she said, “He is doing well. The uneasiness that he felt in his chest was because of a sudden surge of strong emotions. There is nothing to worry about now and his health is just fine. But he is still to recover emotionally. It was unfortunate that the issue was politicised… My dad had no issues with his security in Pakistan.” We believe you Meghna.