The latest Pakistani celebs to have come under the radar of India's massive online crackdown are Fawad Khan and Atif Aslam. The Indian government began suspending and blocking the social media handles of Pakistani citizens, including that of actors, singers, politicians and sportspersons from May 2 onwards.
The first Pakistani celeb accounts to get blocked in India on May 2 were those of Hania Aamir, Mahira Khan, Sajal Aly, Ushna Shah, and other famous names. While Fawad and Atif's profiles were accessible in India until Thursday, their desi fans noticed on Friday that their accounts had been blocked too now.
Both Fawad and Atif have a massive fan following on social media, the former for his acting chops and the latter for his songs. In fact, Atif has given Bollywood some of its most popular and iconic chartbusters, including tracks like Tu Jaane Na, Pehli Nazar Mein, Dil Diyan Gallan, Tere Sang Yaara, and others.
On the other hand, Fawad was set to make his comeback in Bollywood after nine years with the film Abir Gulaal, but that too has now been banned in India.
Both Fawad and Atif have not reacted to the blocking of their accounts in India yet.
The crackdown by the Indian government came after the ghastly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on April 22, that claimed 26 innocent lives. Several Pakistani celebs, including Fawad and Hania had condemned the attack in India.
Indian celebs like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Kareena Kapoor Khan, and others too had condemned the attack and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take strict action against the perpetrators.
Not just individual accounts, but the Indian government has also blocked several YouTube channels of Pakistani artists, shows and production houses, making Pakistani content unavailable in the country.
