Javed Akhtar recently addressed the ongoing debate about Pakistani artists working in India, especially in light of the recent terror attack in Pahalgam. In a candid statement, he emphasised that India's respect for Pakistani artists has not been reciprocated, labeling the exchange as “one-way traffic.”

There is hardly “any warmth today” in India-Pakistan cultural ties, the veteran screenwriter-poet noted.

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According to News18, while discussing whether Pakistani artists should be allowed to work in India, Akhtar said, “There are two answers, and both of them are equally logical. You can toss a coin to find the right one. It was one-way traffic – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Ghulam Ali and Noor Jahan came to India, we gave them a great reception. Faiz Ahmad Faiz, who was a poet of the subcontinent – he was living in Pakistan because he was born there, but I wouldn’t say he is a Pakistani poet, he was a poet of peace and love. When he came to India during the AB Vajpayee regime, he was treated like a state head.”

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“I have no complaints against the people of Pakistan. Big poets of Pakistan have written poems on Lata Mangeshkar. She was, hands down, the most popular Indian artiste in Pakistan in the 60s and 70s, but why was there not a single performance by Lata Mangeshkar in the country? There was some blockage, which was the system, the Pakistani establishment, which I don’t understand. This is one-way traffic, which is not right,” he further added.

Akhtar told PTI, during the IP and Music: Feel the beat of IP event organised by FICCI, “The second, equally valid, point of view is that if we block Pakistani artistes in India, who are we pleasing in Pakistan? The army and the fundamentalists. This is what they want – a tall wall between India and Pakistan so Pakistanis cannot see the kind of freedom and privileges every citizen of India enjoys. They want distance, it suits them. Bonhomie doesn’t.”

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Several reports suggest that Abir Gulaal, featuring Pakistani star Fawad Khan, will not be allowed to be released in theatres in India. The calls for ban on Pakistani artists intensified in the aftermath of terrorists gunning down 26 people in Kashmir's picturesque Pahalgam on April 22.

Akhtar concluded, “Both these questions are equally valid. But, at this moment, I would say no (to Pakistanis working in India).”

The General Secretary of Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), Ashoke Dubey, had earlier called for a complete ban on Pakistani artists from working in India.

Ashoke, while speaking to ANI, said, “Since this is a matter of national interest, the nation comes first. The continuous attacks, including the recent one in Pahalgam on our tourists, are shameful. We have again issued a press release stating that if any of our members are found working with Pakistani artists or technicians, we will take action against them and stop working with them.”