‘Amarinder wife good host...media the problem’

The Pakistani writer on security who is termed as a security threat to India by some Punjab politicians today fielded and pitched questions at an over-crowded Chandigarh Press Club.

Aroosa Alam, whose friendship with former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has generated allegations by Akali MLAs in the Assembly and considerable media attention, said the Indian media had created a controversy where none existed.

"Capt Amarinder is my good friend. We first met when he was the Chief Minister at a function of the Jalandhar Press Club. I don't know from where the entire controversy has arisen. All this is politically-motivated," she said.

She also claimed that she and Amarinder had played an important part in the now-stalled peace process between India and Pakistan.

Alam tackled questions with ease. "While I am happy to be with my colleagues, I don't understand why you have to enter my personal life. Don't you have any serious matter to write about? " she said.

"Newspapers in Pakistan don't write on personal lives of people," she said. When reminded that the controversy about her relationship with Amarinder was started by a Pakistan newspaper, she said, "The owner of the newspaper in question wanted to grab a piece of land allotted to a housing society of journalists in Islamabad. I was among those who had opposed it. The owner had some grudge against me." She added that no other newspaper in Pakistan had carried the story. "But in India all newspapers lifted it and called me and Amarinder Singh ISI agents. This is unfair," she said.

She did accept that the Indian government had denied her a visa to visit the country immediately after the Punjab Assembly elections. Referring to the allegation that she was an agent of the ISI, she said, "I have travelled with Presidents and Prime Ministers on official state visits. Does that make me an ISI agent? If any of you travels abroad with your Prime Minister, does that make you an agent of the RAW? I am definitely not an ISI agent."

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