The Instagram stories of several eminent Pakistani celebrities, including Hania Aamir, Mahira Khan, Ali Zafar and Sanam Saeed, were blocked from sight in India, in another sign of deterioration in relations between Pakistan and India.
Indian users who try to access these profiles have encountered a message indicating: “Account not available in India. Indeed, we have respected a legal request to restrict this content.”
Among the other Pakistani players whose accounts are no longer visible in India are Bilal Abbas, Iqra Aziz, Imran Abbas and Sajal Aly. At the same time, the profiles of Fawad Khan and Wahaj Ali remain accessible for the moment.
The restriction follows a wave of digital repression from India in response to the attack on Pahalgam of April 22 in Jammu-et-Cachemire of Indian origin (Iiojk), which left 26 dead.
India blamed Pakistan to have supported the activists involved – an allegation that Islamabad has denied strongly.
It is not the only digital restriction imposed. Indian authorities have also prohibited 16 Pakistani YouTube channels, citing the propagation of “provocative” or “community” content.
The official Youtube channel of former Pakistani cricket player Shoiib Akhtar – with more than 3.5 million subscribers – has also been deleted.
These measures are part of a broader diplomatic reprisals by India, which has already suspended the industrial water Treaty, has reduced diplomatic staff to its high-commission in Islamabad and canceled visas issued to Pakistani nationals.
New Delhi has linked Islamabad to the attack without offering any evidence and took a wave of punitive measures to demarcate the links.
Islamabad, in response, ordered the expulsion of Indian diplomats and military advisers, canceling visas for Indian nationals, with the exception of Sikhs pilgrims and closing the main border crossing on its side.
Pakistan also proposed to participate in a credible and transparent survey.