'Pak may have skipped fest due to internal conditions there'

Pakistan might have skipped the five-day South Asian Universities' Festival (SAUFEST) here due to the "internal conditions" in that country, office-bearer of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) said today.

"We had invited Pakistan for SAUFEST. However, there is no information as to why it boycotted the festival," AIU general secretary Furqan Quamar told reporters here.

"No university from that country is taking part in the event. Internal conditions there may be the reason for skipping the fest," he said.

"Besides Pakistan, students of Maldives and Myanmar have not turned up for the festival," Quamar said.

"We want all the south Asian countries to take part in the festival to boost exchange of culture. We were glad that seven countries are taking part," he said.

On violence at Ramjas College in Delhi, Quamar said peace should prevail at the campus of all universities.

"Democracy is maturing and there should be room for people of different ideologies to putforth their views and debate over it," he said.

SAUFEST is being organised jointly here by AIU and Devi Ahilya University, Indore. Over 350 students from India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Mauritius are participating in it.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)