Pak officials stop Sharmila Tagore at Wagah Border

Veteran actress Sharmila Tagore has expressed her delight at being in Lahore, saying she has found so much in common between India and Pakistan.

Opening the two-day Lahore Literary Festival (LLF), the celebrated star said she visited Lahore earlier but crossed the border for the first time. “From crossing the border to a Chughtai painting, old Hindi songs in my hotel room here remind me of how similar India and Pakistan are.” The festival began with her key-note address — Safar. Sharmila clad in a magenta sari, was welcomed on stage with a thundering standing ovation.

“I started acting (at the age of 13) before I had even watched a film. We were not allowed to watch movies as children. It was frowned upon in those days,” she said, adding she had been exposed to a myriad of views since her early years. She also talked about her liberal upbringing in Calcutta, which was at odds with the sense of morality prevalent in Bombay when she later relocated to the city.

Meanwhile, Tagore could not cross the Wagah Border into India on Sunday as Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency Immigration stopped her for not having a “police report” of her stay in Lahore. Tagore was escorted by the police to get to Wagah Border. The Punjab government had given her “official protocol” after her meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

However, when she reached Wagah Border the immigration officials told her that “police report” was missing from her travel documents. On her inquiry that “can’t I go with this document”, the immigration official said “No”. “By the time the police report matter was resolved Tagore changed her mind to cross the border. She decided to leave for India on Monday and returned to hotel,” the official said. During her stay in Lahore, Tagore called on Prime Minister Sharif on Saturday at his palatial Jati Umra residence in Raiwind and had a dinner with him.