As tensions rise following the deadly incident in Pahalgam, India has tightened its grip on digital platforms by blocking several prominent Pakistani figures on social media, including former Prime Minister Imran Khan and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Both leaders’ X (formerly Twitter) profiles are now inaccessible within India, displaying the message: “@BBhuttoZardari has been withheld in IN in response to a legal demand.”
The ban follows a broader crackdown by the Indian government on Pakistani content it deems “anti-India misinformation.”
Sixteen Pakistani YouTube and Facebook channels, including Express News, have already been blocked in India, and even Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s YouTube channel hasn’t been spared.
Responding to the development, Shazia Marri, Central Spokesperson for the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), strongly criticised the Indian government, calling the move a sign of “desperation and fear of the truth.”
She accused New Delhi of choosing censorship over transparency, stating, “Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has consistently demanded that the Modi government either provide evidence regarding the Pahalgam incident or support an international investigation.”
Marri claimed that the move was an attempt to distract from internal failures and continued human rights abuses in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
She said Bilawal has openly challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s record, referencing the 2002 Gujarat riots and labelling him the “Butcher of Gujarat”, a title Bilawal has used to highlight Modi’s controversial past on global platforms.
“No matter how much the Modi government tries to suppress the truth, it will find its way, and the true face of the Indian government has become clear to the world,” she stated.
Marri went further, accusing Modi of being directly responsible for the violence in Pahalgam and said his efforts to play the victim would not succeed.
She emphasised growing concern even within India over recent security lapses, suggesting that the government has failed to provide convincing answers.
Calling on the international community to act, Marri urged global leaders to recognize and condemn what she described as India’s “state-sponsored terrorism” and systemic targeting of minorities.
She concluded by affirming that Pakistan’s political and civil society stands united in resisting “India’s nefarious designs,” declaring, “Modi’s regime cannot escape the voices of truth and justice, which will continue to follow him.”