Pakistani journalist responds to an open letter penned to Fawad Khan by an Indian journalist

The #UriAttacks in Kashmir have given rise to a new cultural war in the country where Pakistani artists working in India are being asked to go back to their country. Some political forces have even been threatening the very popular actor of the neighbouring country, Fawad Khan to go back to Pakistan. Amongst all this, a letter from an Indian journalist made its rounds on the Internet which pleaded Fawad Khan in a polite manner to go back to Pakistan and never return. This letter did not go down well with many as they think that there is no point mixing art and political unrest.

Now, a Pakistani has given a response to that letter, with a letter of his own, raising some pertinent points, the most important one being that their country does not need India to become famous. Here are some excerpts from the letter:

“India didn’t make Fawad Khan a superstar, it roped him in because he was one already, and marketed the product where the demand was brewing already. Mahira Khan is another sweetheart of Pakistan. These are the highest paid celebrities in Pakistan, and the latter’s film in India hasn’t even released yet. The last point was just for your notice in case you try to claim Mahira Khan’s stardom in the future too.”

Another point that the man discusses is that there have been many Indian actors who have worked in the Pakistani industry and have been welcomed with open arms:

“You seem indignant on the view that Indian artists aren’t allowed to work in Pakistan. Well, you may want to take a back-seat and question any among Nandita Das, Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri among others in this regard, all of whom have portrayed essential roles in Pakistani films. Neha Dhupia has even done an item number here. We have had songs sung by Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, Harsdeep Kaur, Rekha Bhardwaj, Ankit Tiwari and Sukhwinder Singh amongst others in our films, despite our music industry being second to none, and many among your population also seem to testify to this fact. We have even had Indian singers on our ‘Coke Studio’, which is the rage all over the sub-continent. Kareena Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri, Sidhart Malhotra, Amrita Arora, Arjun Kapoor and many others have been a part of our advertisement campaigns, and you know better, those things pay quite well.” (sic)

Well, we do agree that culture is not to be mixed with terrorism and banning Fawad Khan is not a solution to combat terrorism. Rather than banning Pak artists, the political parties should instead focus on combatting the greater issue of terrorism and see to that the security measures need to be stringent. Fawad Khan is just an artist doing his job and it would be unfair to target him just because he is working in Indian cinema. Although, we cannot deny that a Pakistani artist like Adnan Sami was denied a citizenship from his own country and got a citizenship in India.

What’s your take on this response letter? Do let us know your views in the comments below.

ALSO READ: Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan’s Bollywood career in trouble, MNS threatens Pakistani actors!

Prajakta Ajgaonkar

Passionate about writing, and a Bollywood lover, she is all that is sweet and endearing! She desires to put her best foot forward in everything that she does and loves to help anyone who’s in need.