Manish Malhotra Deletes Posts of Mahira Khan, Hania Aamir Amid India-Pakistan Tensions

As tensions between India and Pakistan rise following the April 22 Pahalgam attack, the fallout has begun to affect the entertainment world. Prominent Indian fashion designer Manish Malhotra has quietly taken down Instagram posts featuring Pakistani stars Mahira Khan and Hania Aamir. This move by Manish Malhotra comes amid a broader cultural clampdown as India tightens digital and cross-border engagement.

In a related development, Instagram has restricted access to the accounts of several Pakistani celebrities and influencers in India, reportedly due to legal directives tied to content moderation. When Indian users attempted to view profiles like Mahira Khan’s and Hania Aamir’s, they were met with the notice: “Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content.”

This is not the first digital restriction of its kind. Previously, India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting blocked several Pakistani YouTube channels, targeting both news and entertainment content.

The recent steps signal a widening of the conflict beyond politics and into the cultural sphere. Indian authorities, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, have cited national security concerns as the reason for reducing soft cultural exchanges with Pakistan.

With growing scrutiny and restrictions on Pakistani personalities online, the current climate has cast a shadow over creative and cultural collaboration between the two countries, once considered a bridge during periods of political tension.