Jaipur Lit Fest Day 2: Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi among other personalities to be present today

Jaipur: It's the second day of the Jaipur Literature Festival on Friday. Film personalities Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi and Sharmila Tagore and UIDAI Chairperson Nandan Nilekani will be among the key personalities attending the festival on Friday.

Meanwhile, the government has blocked two Pakistani diplomats from travelling to Jaipur for the ongoing Literature Festival in the city. Sources said that the decision was taken after consulting the Centre. Sources said that this was not an unusual practice and that Pakistan too restricted movement of Indian diplomats on different occasions.

Despite protests against inclusion of Pakistani authors, the festival opened without any problems on Thursday, but heavy security remains in place. Except for Mohammed Hanif, who skipped the festival for personal reasons, the other Pakistani authors kept their date with Jaipur.

Sharmila Tagore and UIDAI Chairperson Nandan Nilekani will also be among the key personalities attending the festival on Friday.

"I agree with the sentiment behind protest warnings and respect it, but we are here to make friends and ease tensions." Pakistani writer MA Farooqi said. "I got to know of it only when I came here. I think it's sad and platforms like this can help ease tensions," Pakistani author Jamil Ahmad said.

One of the main draws on Day 1, the Dalai Lama, addressed a packed session on peace and tolerance. "This should be a century of dialogue, dialogue is the only way to deal with conflict," the Dalai Lama said.

Also See

• Jaipur Literature Festival Day 1: Organisers stand by authors, police ensure security
• The best tweets from Jaipur Literature Festival

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)