Published 21 Oct, 2015 05:07pm

'Now you know why there are borders' — Shaan speaks out following Shiv Sena threats

Following the recent Shiv Sena threats to Pakistani sports and celebrity personalities, many of the celebs from the fraternity have chosen to remain silent regarding the rivalry between India and Pakistan.

Even the ones who have spoken out have opted to take a very diplomatic approach; while Hamza Ali Abbasi was praying that God give Shiv Sena hidayat, Ahsan Khan was choosing to bridge the gap and work together. Mahira and Fawad also chose to stay tight-lipped owing to the sensitivity of the issue, considering both stars have major projects under their belt in India.

Enter Shaan Shahid.

The evergreen patriot reiterated: "Now you will know why there are borders and now you will see them clearly."

Strong words coming from the Waar actor, who has taken the controversial stance on social media as he attempts to justify his anti-India sentiments.

Read: Ali Zafar vs Shaan: What defines patriotism?

The Facebook post ignited all kinds of responses. Many seconded what Shahid implied.

"We should boycott all indian showbiz related stuff in Pakistan at every level especially indian films should be banned immediately in Pakistani cinema houses," said one fan.

Another chimed in, "A very good indirect message to Marwa Hocane, who is a puppet in the hands of those Indians."

However, not all who were commenting were haters.

One man decided to think rationally, "Do you know the total population of India? Blaming a whole nation on basis of opinion of a small group is not what's expected from you. It's the same as the world has opinion of your country based on views of some extremists, yourself included."

One user, who identified herself as Indian, said: "Hey, I am an Indian. Guess what? More than Pakistanis, we condemn Shiv Sena. They are suffering from verbal diarrhea. We love Pakistani artists (in fact, any good artist in this world) -- we are a huge fans of Mehdi Hasan, Farida Khanum, Rohail Hayat, Atif Aslam, Ali Zafar, Fawad Khan, Rahat Fateh Ali, you name it! We love them all!"

Continuing its string of attacks on Pakistani luminaries, Shiv Sena — a Hindu extremist party engaged in a ruling coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra — made Pakistani movie stars, Mahira Khan and Fawad Khan, its latest target when they announced plans to hinder their movie promotions yesterday.

"We have taken a stand not to allow any Pakistani actor, cricketer or performer to step on Maharashtra soil," says Akshay Bardapurkar, general Secretary of the Shiv Sena Chitrapat Sena, the party's film wing.

Read more: Shiv Sena activists threaten Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan

Shaan has also spoken out about the unfair treatment Pakistanis face at the hands of Indians in the past. In an interview with Dawn.com, he pointed out Bollywood's peculiar casting choices.

"It hurts me to see our talent being used as second hand B-grade options. I would love to see any of our actors in a leading role like Dhoom 4, that would be a success story to write home about. Plus, India doesn’t support Pakistani movies, like Waar and 021 are not being released in India, but we seem to have no issue with that."

Read also: Shaan calls Shah Rukh's film an 'Ocean's 12' rip-off

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