Indian Missile Attacks
Leading Pakistani actors Mahira Khan, Hania Aamir, and Fawad Khan have voiced strong condemnation over India’s recent airstrikes that claimed the lives of at least 26 civilians, including women and children, and left 46 others injured. The actors joined a growing chorus of outrage from across Pakistan in response to what is being called a gross violation of international law and a deliberate targeting of innocent civilians.
The overnight strikes reportedly hit multiple locations across Pakistan, with devastating consequences for the affected communities. The Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR), Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif, confirmed that India carried out 24 airstrikes targeting six different sites, including urban residential areas and a mosque.
In Bahawalpur’s Ahmedpur East alone, 13 people lost their lives, including two three-year-old girls, seven women, and four men. Another 37 people were injured in that area, including nine women.
In Muzaffarabad, a strike on the Bilal Mosque led to the deaths of three more individuals, while two children — a boy and a girl — were critically wounded. These attacks have been widely condemned by both state officials and citizens alike, sparking anger, grief, and demands for justice.
Actor Mahira Khan reposted a tweet by writer Fatima Bhutto criticizing the Indian strikes, and later took to Instagram to share her own thoughts. Calling the attacks “seriously cowardly,” Mahira offered prayers for the safety and resilience of her homeland, writing, “May Allah protect our country, may better sense prevail. Ameen.”
Hania Aamir, another prominent voice from the entertainment industry, directly challenged India’s justification of the attack. In a powerful Instagram statement, she wrote, “You don’t bomb innocent people and call it strategy,” rebuking the rationale being presented by Indian authorities in connection to the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), for which they have offered no credible evidence linking Pakistan.
Fawad Khan also took to Instagram to express his condemnation, labeling the attack as “shameful.” He echoed calls for peace and rational thinking, saying, “May better sense prevail. Inshallah. Pakistan Zindabad.”
These statements from Pakistan’s most prominent actors come amid a broader cultural and diplomatic fallout between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Notably, social media accounts of celebrities such as Mahira Khan, Fawad Khan, and Ali Zafar have previously been banned in India, underscoring the deteriorating people-to-people ties between the two countries.
As tensions remain high, voices from across civil society and the entertainment world in Pakistan continue to push back against the violence and call for peace, justice, and accountability.
