"is Pakistani music still banned in India?"
Indian singer Arijit Singh has asked why Pakistani songs and singers are banned in India.
The singer made the comments during his soldout show in the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Friday, November 19, 2021.
An audience member shared a video of Singh interacting with the crowd in a tweet, saying that he had made a “solid statement”.
The ‘Agar Tum Saath Ho’ artist says: “I have a question right now, it’s a controversial question but I’m going to ask it.
“I don’t follow the news much but tell me one thing – is Pakistani music still banned in India?
“Or has it started? I mean in the middle something had happened – but has it restarted now?
“Because Atif Aslam is one of my favourites so I give a damn.”
Other netizens were also impressed by the artist.
What solid statement from @TheArijitSingh regarding Pakistani singers ?? great to see!!
Singing songs of these artists as well ??@itsaadee @ShafqatAmanatA pic.twitter.com/6z6zyV3vvD
— Hamza Mir (@MEEERRRU) November 19, 2021
One person commented: “Being such a huge personality, he took a stand while nobody ever spoke about it to avoid controversy.
“He said it live to the whole crowd. Arijit Singh deserves all our respect.
“Love how Atif Aslam and Arijit Singh respect and admire each other.”
Another person added: “That’s why Arijit is pure gold.”
One person commented: “My respect for him has increased now.”
Pakistani singer Atif Aslam previously spoke about the ban and said:
“Despite the ban, it was evident how loved I was by fans of Bollywood music.
“#UnbanAtifAslam was trending on Indian Twitter when my song was removed from the soundtrack of the movie Notebook.”
Pakistani artists were banned from working in India following the 2016 Uri attacks carried out in Jammu and Kashmir.
This was then followed by widespread protests in India against two upcoming, already shot films which featured Pakistani actors.
The first was Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016) which originally featured Fawad Khan and the second was Rahul Dholakia’s Raees (2017) which starred Mahira Khan.
In 2020, The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) also warned Indian singers and musicians against working with their Pakistani counterparts.
They said that failure to comply would lead to “strict disciplinary action” after a collaboration between Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and some Indian singers was brought to its notice.
The concert was Arijit Singh’s first since the Covid-19 outbreak and was the highest selling ticketed event in the UAE since the pandemic first struck.
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