The tension between India and Pakistan reached very high level after the Uri attacks and now after the surgical attack which was conducted by India on the launch pads across LoC that killed 40 soldiers and 2 Pakistan army soldiers, Pakistan seems to be quite frightened and has lost its cool.
Pakistani authorities have imposed a ban on the broadcasting of Indian Television channels in Pakistan. Not only this, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has also warned of dire consequences if the ban is not implemented properly by the network distributers and TV channels after October 15. In addition, it has said that some complaints have been received about the telecast of Indian reality shows, serials and talk shows by local private channels without permission.
As per PTI, PEMRA stated, “The complaints have shown serious concerns on this issue (illegal Indian contents) in the wake of current situation between India and Pakistan.”
Two days back, Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA) had also imposed a ban on Pakistani artists and technicians to show solidarity with the armed forces and in its response, Pakistani theatres have stopped showing Indian movies.
After the Uri attacks, some Indian political parties such as MNS and Shiv Sena were demanding ouster of Pakistani actors from Bollywood. Moreover, Pakistani actors were warned that they would be thrashed severely if they didn’t leave India after 25th September. All the Pakistani actors have now returned to their country and shows of Pakistani singers in Indian cities have also been cancelled.
Somewhat similar reactions have been seen across the border as Pakistani actor Shaan Shahid has slammed his co-workers for not showing their support to the Pakistani army. He took to Facebook and addressed all those Pakistani actors working In India as “one film wonder(s)”, adding that they were not speaking in support of Pakistani army as “want to hide under the money and little fame they made from India.”
Hamza Ali Abbasi, another actor wrote this on his Facebook wall, “The time has come when Pakistani artists must boycott Bollywood and Pakistani people must stop watching Indian content.” However Hamza was not in favor of banning Indian artists of Pakistan as he said, “Our actors should stop going to Bollywood. If anyone comes from there we should welcome them as we are more mature and civilized people than them. If a dog bites you, you don’t bite the dog back.”
Nevertheless, there are some artists like Sajal Aly, who think the other way. She said, “Art is a form free from race, creed, ethnicity and all biases and prejudices. It’s not tied by any division. We must understand this when we talk about work collaboration of artists.”
Just to remind, superstar Salman Khan has also opposed the ban on Pakistani actors in India and defended them by saying that they are not terrorists and they come here after government gives them visa.
This statement of Salman didn’t go down well with the regional political parties of Maharashtra, MNS and Shiv Sena and both of them warned and criticized the actor for this.