Supreme Court rejects petition demanding a permanent ban on Pakistani artists in India

A ban was imposed for 7 years after the terrorist attack in Uri in Kashmir

New Delhi – In 2016, after the attack by Jihadi terrorists in Uri, Kashmir. India had imposed a 7-year ban on all Pakistani artists from entering India. Now that the stipulated period has expired, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court seeking a permanent ban on them. The Supreme Court however rejected the petition and asked the petitioner to be more ‘open minded’. Earlier, the petitioner, Faiz Anwar Qureshi, had filed this petition in the Bombay High Court. However, the Court had said that this petition was not worth hearing. People should understand that it is incorrect to hate the people of a neighbouring country just to prove themselves to be patriotic. Hence, the petitioner challenged this in the Supreme Court.

The demands put forward by the petitioner

• Pakistani artists should not be allowed to perform in India.
• Ban the entry of Pakistani nationals into any service or institution.
• The Court should direct the Union Government to inform all Indian citizens, institutions and organisations to avoid any sort of dealings with Pakistan.

Editorial Perspective

Most of the artists from Pakistan are Indian haters and religious fanatics. This has been proved time and again through various examples. However, the common people feel that at least on a patriotic grounds these artists should not be allowed to work on Indian artistic platforms.