NEW DELHI: Indian peace activist Sudheendra Kulkarni, whose face was daubed with black paint by Shiv Sena extremists in Mumbai this month, will visit Karachi next week, he said on Wednesday with hopes to blend the vision of Quaid-i-Azam and Mahatma Gandhi to usher friendly bonds between the two countries.

Mr Kulkarni is chairman of the Observer Research Founda­tion, Mumbai. Earlier, former foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri told Dawn from Lahore that he had invited Mr Kulkarni to continue their joint campaign for peace together.

“I am both delighted and excited at the opportunity to visit Pakistan next week. I thank Mr Kasuri for inviting me to participate in the function to launch his book in Karachi on Nov 2,” Mr Kulkarni said.

“I have vivid memories of my last visit to Karachi in 2005 when I accompanied Mr L.K. Advani,” Mr Kulkarni said. “It was a visit that became unnecessarily controversial because of his tribute to Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah. I look forward to visiting Jinnah’s mausoleum again, since I am convinced that his vision and ideals, along with those of Mahatma Gandhi, can surely help India and Pakistan in their search for peace and normalisation.”

Mr Kasuri’s book ‘Neither a Hawk nor a Dove’ is a major contribution to the India-Pakistan peace process, Mr Kulkarni said. “I had the privilege of organising its launch in Bombay earlier this month. I also thank the Karachi Council on Foreign Relations for inviting me to participate in a seminar on Pakistan-India relations on Nov 3.”

Mr Kasuri praised Mr Kulkarni’s “heroic stand when he stood steadfast against threats by Shiv Sena for organising the launch of the book.”

Both Mr Kasuri, who was then in Delhi in connection with his book launch there and, Mr Kulkarni who had invited him to promote his book in Mumbai were repeatedly warned by Shiv Sena to cancel the event. Both refused to bow down to this pressure. “Mr Kulkarni, became the victim of a heinous black paint attack by Shiv Sena members ahead of the Oct 12, 2015, launch of the book in Mumbai.”

The Shiv Sena vehemently opposed the event and threatened to disrupt it. The threat was challenged and the book was launched as planned in the evening at the iconic Nehru Memorial Centre in Mumbai before a packed house with people standing on the roads outside, unable to get into the auditorium for lack of space. “This was one of the few times that Shiv Sena had actually failed in achieving its objective in getting an event cancelled through hard handed crude pressure,” Mr Kasuri recalled.

Mr Kulkarni did not back down and attended a joint press conference with Mr Kasuri with the black paint still on his face before being admitted to a hospital.

“The horrific memories of this sad and regrettable moment will be remembered.”

The likely appearance of Mr Kulkarni in Karachi, soon after the Shiv Sena attack, in connection with the launching of same book will not be bereft of its sense of drama.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2015

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