Pakistan’s Information and Broadcasting Minister FawadChaudhry on Tuesday announced a boycott of Indian movies as well as ‘Made inIndia’ advertisements in the country.
“Cinema Exhibitors Association has boycotted Indian content,no Indian movie will be released in Pakistan. Also have instructed PEMRA to actagainst ‘Made in India’ advertisements,” Chaudhry tweeted.
The move comes in response to an air strike by the IndianAir Force (IAF) on Jaish-e-Mohammed’s biggest camp in Balakot in Pakistan’sKhyber Pakhtunkhwa province early on Tuesday in retaliation to the February 14attack in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, which left 40 Indian CRPF troopers dead.
Clearly, cultural ties between India and Pakistan have beenaffected since just in December last year, Chaudhry had assured help to Indianfilmmaker Nandita Das in releasing her film “Manto” in Pakistan.
Before that, Pakistan’s Supreme Court had placed a ban onthe transmission of Indian content on local television channels. But movieswere making their way to theatres and finding a good audience.