After blaming Pakistan for the Pahalgam attack, India has resorted to underhanded tactics, blocking projects of Pakistani artists and now blocking the YouTube channel of Pakistan’s legendary former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar in India.
This development comes at a time when India has recently banned several Pakistani YouTube channels. Although Shoaib Akhtar’s channel was not officially listed, his YouTube channel has been inaccessible in India since this morning.
Interestingly, Shoaib Akhtar’s old videos are still viewable on YouTube in India, suggesting that the Indian government has not fully blocked his channel but has restricted its access only within India.
Shoaib Akhtar is one of the most admired Pakistani cricket stars in India and has participated in cricket discussions and commentary across various sports and media platforms for many years.
Shoaib Akhtar is not the only former Pakistani cricketer whose YouTube channel access has been restricted in India. Reports indicate that the channels of other former cricketers, Rashid Latif and Basit Ali, are also no longer accessible in India. These channels were also not included in the officially released block list but have had their access restricted within India.
Additionally, channels that were officially included in India’s block list have been completely suspended, while some of their old videos are still available on YouTube in India.
It remains unclear whether Shoaib Akhtar’s channel was blocked by mistake or if it is part of a new block list that may be announced soon.
According to Indian media reports, the decision to ban Pakistani YouTube channels was made on the recommendation of the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs.
This action was taken following the terrorist attack in the Pahalgam area of occupied Kashmir on April 22, where 26 tourists were killed, and India blamed Pakistan without any evidence.
Media reports state that Indian government officials said that “in light of the Pahalgam attack, on the recommendations of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Indian government banned Pakistani YouTube channels for spreading provocative, sensitive content, and false and misleading information against India, the Indian army, and security agencies.”
The Pakistani YouTube channels confirmed to have been blocked so far include Dawn News, Irshad Bhatti, Samaa TV, ARY News, BOL News, Raftaar, The Pakistan Experience, Geo News, Samaa Sports, GNN, Uzair Cricket, Umar Cheema Exclusive, Asma Shirazi, Muneeb Farooq, Suno News, and Razi Nama.
This recent development suggests an increasing trend of strict monitoring and control over Pakistani content in India, with more actions expected in the coming days.
However, cricket fans in India, especially Shoaib Akhtar’s admirers, have expressed disappointment over the situation and are awaiting further clarification.
