Criticism of 'obscene acts' shouldn't be given any value: Pak author

Mumbai, May 26 (UNI) Acclaimed Pakistani author Dr Fauzia Saeed today said criticism of 'obscene acts' like kissing controversy involving Shilpa Shetty and Richard Gere and a similar controversy in Pakistan over Pakistan Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar embracing her parachute instructor in France should not be given any value.

''These are excuses which certain elements in society look for to create a mere nuisance value. Therefore, they should not be highlighted much,'' Ms Saeed said while addressing reporters here on the eve of the release of Marathi translation of her book 'Taboo: The Hidden Culture of Red Light Area'.

She said while Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty had invited the wrath of the moral police in India after Hollywood actor Richard Gere kissed her publicly at a social function recently, a cleric in Pakistan issued a decree, soon after newspapers published a photograph of Ms Bakhtiar hugging her parachute instructor, calling on the government to sack her for 'obscenity'.

Lambasting the partisan attitude of society, Ms Saeed said there was a need to rethink the whole approach, as it was being seen only from one angle.

''Only females are blamed for the problem. There is no accountablity towards the males, and so we need to step back, and see the problem from a totally new angle,'' she said.

The book by Ms Saeed, who worked as Country Director with Actionaid in Pakistan, was the culmination of her 8-year-long research, which she carried out in the red light area of Lahore's Shahi Bazaar.

Terming her book as an analysis woven around the characters, the celebrated Pakistani author said her work acts as a mirror, in which society sees its refelection.

On a question whether prostitution be legalised, she said while she was not sure about it, but certainly registration was a must to make it free from being criminalised.

The book is translated by Rekha Despande, a well-known Marathi journalist and member of the Mumbai-Karachi chapter of the South Asia Federation of Free Media Association (SAFMA). The Marathi version of the book will be released by noted film personality Javed Akhtar here tomorrow.

UNI