Amid heightened tensions following a deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, India has blocked the Instagram accounts of several prominent Pakistani celebrities, including actors Mahira Khan, Hania Aamir, and Ali Zafar.
The move comes days after 26 tourists were brutally killed in a militant assault in the scenic Pahalgam region. Survivors reported that the assailants singled out victims based on religion and executed them at close range. All but one of the victims were Indian nationals.
The Instagram action follows India’s decision to ban 16 Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading inflammatory content, as diplomatic relations between the two countries rapidly deteriorate.
Pakistani actor Hania Aamir, beloved by Indian audiences for dramas like Mere Humsafar, expressed sorrow over the attack:
“My heart is with the innocent lives affected by the recent events… Grief speaks the same language. May we choose humanity, always.”
Mahira Khan, who starred opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Raees (2017), has not worked in India since cross-border tensions escalated after the 2016 Uri attack. No Pakistani actor has featured in Indian cinema since.
When the fans of these Pakistani celebrities tried to access their Instagram accounts, they all read the same message- “Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content.”
This comes amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 people were killed after terrorists belonging to The Resistance Force (TRF), an offshoot of banned Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), opened fire on them.
Other Pakistani celebrities whose Instagram accounts have been disabled in India are Ali Zafar, Sanam Saeed, Bilal Abbas, Iqra Aziz, Imran Abbas and Sajal Al
y.Interestingly, the Instagram accounts of some other popular Pakistani actors like Fawad Khan and Wahaj Ali are still visible in India.
Not just the celebrities’ Instagram accounts, India has banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading provocative and communally sensitive content, as well as false narratives targeting the country, its Army, and security agencies, government sources said.
The YouTube channel run by former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar, which had over 3.5 million subscribers, has also been taken down.
