'Strings' denial raised in Kerala Assembly

Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Tuesday said the state government was ready to allow the Pakistani rock band Strings to perform here last Sunday had New Delhi given it the necessary clearance.

The chief minister was replying to a question in the state assembly by Communist Party of India-Marxist legislator M. Prakasan who criticised the central government for denying clearance to the band to perform in the state capital.

'They were allowed to perform in several cities in the country including communally volatile Ahmedabad, but not in Kerala,' said Prakasan.

'This is a band which has been given the goodwill ambassador status by the UN for AIDS,' he added.

The band was to perform on Oct 1 at the Thiruvananthapuram Engineering College but could not make it because the clearance was not given.