NEW DELHI: Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem’s Instagram account has been blocked in India following a legal request from Indian authorities, days after the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir.
When Indian users try to access the Pakistani javelin thrower’s Instagram profile, a message appears: “Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content.”
The restriction comes after a terrorist attack on April 22 near the tourist town of Pahalgam in south Kashmir, where 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed and several others injured.
In response to the attack, the Indian government has been cracking down on Pakistani social media accounts with large followings in India. Several Pakistani YouTube channels were recently blocked for allegedly spreading provocative and false content about India and its security forces.
Former Pakistani cricketers Shoaib Akhtar, Basit Ali, and Shahid Afridi are among those whose YouTube channels have been restricted. However, their Instagram accounts remain accessible, unlike Nadeem’s.
Instagram accounts of current Pakistani cricketers like Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, and other celebrities such as Mahira Khan and Ali Zafar, have also been blocked in India.
Nadeem, who famously won gold in the javelin event at the Paris Olympics by beating India’s Neeraj Chopra, had recently been invited to the inaugural NC Classic javelin event in Bengaluru, scheduled for May 24. However, he declined the invitation, citing prior commitments.