Works of Pak, Indian authors evoke equal interest in this

US-based Afghan author Nemat Sadat on Friday said Indian readers have diverse interests and they read works of authors of various countries with equal attention.

Sadat who debuted with one of the top-grossing titles 'The Carpet Weaver' also praised Indian publishers saying they seem to be more progressive than their counterparts in the US and the UK.

An Indian reader "will read works by Afghan, Pak authors as well as Indian authors in English, with equal interest.... Indians have diverse interests," said Sadat told the audience at Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet.

He said his manuscript had been rejected by several publishers in the US and the UK before being taken up and published by and Indian house.

 

Sadat, the first person from Afghanistan to have publicly come out as gay and campaign for the rights of LGBTQ community in Muslim communities worldwide, said hundreds of millions of LGBT people are suffering in several countries.

"But the (western) world doesn't seem to care and they are only intent on branding me as an LGBT revolutionary," the author said while addressing a discussion on 'Belonging Everywhere, Belonging Nowhere'.

Recalling how he was driven out of his home country Afghanistan, Sadat said, "I have been on exile - for the first time during Communism and again I was kicked out for the second time when it was found I was practising homosexualism."

Sadat, who was declared persona non grata in Afghanistan for being gay, said, "Sometimes being a stranger in a strange land now I realise, I am from the country of rich culture, rich civilisation - Afghanistan."

The author said the situation for homosexuals has improved India as "we can come out of shadows, out of fear, being in open air and talk."

Sadat said he is aware of the present situation in India, about the problems of Kashmir and the new citizenship law.

US-based Vietnamese author, Vu Tran, also spoke on the issue of a writer of one country having settled elsewhere.

"I had never an idea where my real home is. Vietnam or US.... Home to me is I guess who you are, that is more important. Who am I and who are my friends - Home signifies all of these for me," Tran said.