Responding to allegations made by former Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit, that he influenced her writings on Kashmir, on Monday popular erotica writer Shobhaa De rubbished the claims made by former envoy calling it “dangerous, malicious”.
Earlier, in an interview with one Pakistani blogger Farhan Virk who calls himself a part of ‘Team IK’ (Team Imran Khan), former Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit had revealed that he had managed to influence Shobhaa De into writing an article in 2016 where she “advocated plebiscite” in Jammu and Kashmir after Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani was shot dead.
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Reacting to the allegations, popular soft-porn writer who likes to identify herself as a journalist Shobhaa De said she is a “patriotic Indian” and feels “deeply insulted” by the claims made by Basit, who was appointed as Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India in 2014 and served in the post for four years.
In a two-minute-long video, Shobhaa De said the only time she met Basit was during the Jaipur Literature Festival in January 2019, when the former envoy attempted to make a conversation at a “publishing party” but was “almost as good as asked to leave”.
“The only time I met him, or rather he came and imposed himself and intruded into a small group was in January of this year at the Jaipur lit fest at a publishing party. He came and joined a small group, attempted a conversation, was snubbed and almost as good as asked to leave,” said Shobhaa De.
“In those three minutes, yes, he tried to bring in various issues but the only issue that actually chased him away was China. That was the first and last time I ever encountered this man,” she added.
She added that what Abdul Basit doing was dangerous, malicious and absolutely unfair to anybody who believed in the truth. Shobhaa De also claimed she’s a “proud, patriotic Indian” and feels “deeply insulted and upset that he could dare to say something like that about a person who has built a career on credibility and good journalism for over 40 years.”
The article Abdul Basit was referring to presumably was written by Shobhaa De in July 2016. The article was titled ‘Burhan Wani is dead but he’ll live on till we find out what Kashmir really wants’. The article could only be accurately described as serving as a defence for Kashmiri Jihad. In the article, Shobhaa De even called for a referendum on the matter, a pivotal Pakistani talking point.
Shobhaa De also attempted to put the Indian security forces and the terrorists of the valley who pelt stones and indulge in rampant terrorism on the same pedestal. She unhesitatingly uses words like ‘martyr’ to describe terrorists Burhan Wani, thereby subtly peddling Pakistan’s agenda.