Social media accounts of several Pakistani actors and celebrities have been blocked in India in the wake of last week’s terror attack in Kashmir that killed 26 people.
India has blamed Pakistan for the attack in the restive Himalayan territory, which the two countries hold in part but claim in full. Pakistan has denied involvement.
“Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content,” reads a message on the Instagram pages of actors Mahira Khan, Hania Aamir, Ali Zafar, Sanam Saeed, Bilal Abbas, Iqra Aziz, Sajal Aly, and Imran Abbas.
Pakistani javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, who won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics, has had his Instagram account blocked as well.
At least 26 people were killed and 17 wounded after gunmen opened fire on a group of tourists in Pahalgam last Tuesday. It was the worst attack in decades targeting civilians in the region that has seen an anti-India insurgency for over three decades.
In a message posted on social media after the attack, Aamir said: “My heart is with the innocent lives affected by the recent events. In pain, in grief, and in hope-we are one. When innocent lives are lost, the pain is not theirs alone – it belongs to all of us. No matter where we come from, grief speaks the same language. May we choose humanity, always.”
Although Aamir has never worked in India, her Pakistani dramas are popular with fans in the country.
Khan and Zafar have both worked in Indian cinema.
Khan debuted in 2017 opposite Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan in Raees. Released shortly after a militant attack in Kashmir’s Uri in 2016 killed 19 Indian soldiers, Raees saw controversy because of Khan’s casting.
She wasn’t allowed in India to promote the film, and Raees didn’t release across the border reportedly because it “depicts Muslims as criminals and terrorists”.
Zafar has worked in several Indian films, most recently in 2016 opposite Alia Bhatt in Dear Zindagi.
He even received a Filmfare nomination for best male debut for his role in Tere Bin Laden in 2010.
Pakistani actor Fawad Khan’s forthcoming film, Abir Gulaal, which was originally slated to be in theatres on 9 May, is also reportedly unlikely to be released. However, his Instagram is still accessible in India.
India typically describes all militancy in Kashmir as Pakistan-backed terrorism. Pakistan denies this and many Muslim Kashmiris consider the militants to be part of a homegrown separatist struggle.
After the 2019 Pulwama attack in which more than 40 paramilitary personnel were killed a suicide bomber, the Federation of Western India Cine Employees demanded a boycott of all Pakistani artists and crew in the Indian film industry. The body renewed its calls after the recent attack in Kashmir, reported NDTV.
