Instagram accounts of several Pakistani celebrities, including Mahira Khan, Hania Aamir and Ali Zafar, were blocked in India following the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people. The move came alongside India’s broader measures against Pakistan, including suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.
Instagram accounts of several prominent Pakistani actors, including Hania Aamir, Mahira Khan, and Ali Zafar, were blocked in India on Wednesday evening, days after a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that left 26 people dead. The Indian government has attributed the attack to cross-border terrorism originating from Pakistan. The social media restrictions come shortly after India banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading provocative and communally sensitive content.
Among the blocked celebrities is Hania Aamir, widely followed by Indian audiences for her roles in Pakistani dramas like Mere Humsafar and Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum. Reacting to the Pahalgam killings, Aamir had issued a statement condemning the violence, saying: “Tragedy anywhere is a tragedy for all. 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 debuted in Bollywood opposite Shah Rukh Khan in the 2017 film Raees, and singer-actor Ali Zafar were also affected by the restrictions. On the other hand, Instagram profiles of Pakistani celebrities Fawad Khan and Atif Aslam remained accessible to users in India. Fawad Khan was slated to make his Bollywood return with the film Abir Gulaal, but its release in India has now been cancelled. No Pakistani actor has worked in the Indian film industry since 2016, when a terror attack on an Indian army base in Uri prompted a freeze in cultural exchanges. Earlier, several Pakistani YouTube channels have been banned too in India.
The latest digital crackdown follows a series of retaliatory steps by India after last Tuesday’s attack in Pahalgam, where armed militants opened fire on a group of tourists. Survivors reported that the attackers separated men from the group, questioned some about their religion, and executed them at close range. All but one of the 26 victims were Indian nationals; one was from Nepal.
In the wake of the attack, India announced suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, shut down the Attari land border crossing, and downgraded diplomatic relations with Pakistan. Islamabad responded by closing its airspace to Indian airlines and halting all trade, including indirect trade through third countries. Pakistan also rejected India’s suspension of the water-sharing treaty, calling any disruption in flow an “act of war.”