Pakistani film star Mahira Khan has openly expressed her views against India’s recent bans on Pakistani artists and social media accounts.
India imposed these bans at the beginning of May when tensions between the two nuclear-armed countries were at their peak. Over a span of four days, both countries carried out shelling, missile attacks, and drone strikes on each other; however, a ceasefire became possible on May 10 due to U.S. intervention.
In a recent interview, Mahira Khan rejected India’s bans, saying, “I did not get any particular reaction. Even today, I love my fans in India. Fans are fans, people are people — what does this have to do with politics?”
Criticizing the political use of the arts, she said, “It is just a political game — ‘we will shut this down, they will shut that down’ — I do not subscribe to this mindset.”
Mahira questioned why artists are targeted first in every political or military crisis, calling it strange. “Whether a war starts or there is some political issue, the first attack is always on art. Why? Art connects people. And that is the first thing to be shut down so that the bond, the love, is broken.”
Mahira Khan is one of Pakistan’s most prominent and highest-paid actresses. She has won seven Lux Style Awards and seven Hum Awards. In 2017, she achieved international fame by acting alongside Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the film Raees.
Apart from acting, Mahira is an active voice for women’s rights and social justice. She has been involved in campaigns against child sexual abuse and harassment, and in 2019 she was appointed UNICEF goodwill ambassador for Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
