In case you missed it, Sajal Aly and Adnan Siddiqui were beefing on Instagram over the national anthem

Adnan Siddiqui wanted a debate on the national anthem and he definitely got one. On Friday, the actor posed a question on Instagram — Is it appropriate to take creative liberties with our national anthem? He ended up starting a rather lengthy debate with fellow actor Sajal Aly on Instagram stories.

In case you missed it, Siddiqui was talking about a rendition of the national anthem performed on Thursday night by Shehzad Roy and Wahab Bugti at the Lux Style Awards. He didn’t like the creative liberties taken with the musical composition, which made use of traditional instruments rather than the customary ones used for the national anthem.

At the end of his post, he asked for people’s thoughts and boy, did he get some.

One of the people to respond to his post was Aly, his co-star from Mom and Ye Dil Mera. “Pakistan’s diversity makes it beautiful. A rendition of the national anthem that is inclusive of historically marginalised groups is far more patriotic than imposing a rigid and unitary idea of how to show love for our country and its people,” she wrote on her Instagram stories.

“Let us stop policing how we express our patriotism: our Constitution celebrates the many ethnicities, languages and cultures that exist in the country. When will we do the same?” she said, tagging Siddiqui.

“‘Historically marginalised groups’ can express their patriotic sentiment without meddling with the originality of our national honour. I am not throwing shade on the ‘ethnicity’ of the artist involved or theirs or anyone’s patriotism,” replied Siddiqui in a follow-up story. “My grouse is with the nonchalance and creative over-enthusiasm towards the national anthem. Sajal Aly maybe you’d like to revisit the post because you seem to have missed the point,” he wrote.

“There is protocol to be followed for national symbols, respect accorded to them so much so that the first alphabet of national symbols are written in upper case. What next because we are creative and should celebrate diversity? Hoist the National Flag upside down and design our own version of the Emblem?” asked Siddiqui.

Of course, this didn’t end the debate. “As a Pakistani and an artist, I found the diversity of my country reflected in this rendition of the national anthem beautiful. I found it healing,” wrote Aly.

“Shehzad Roy and Wahab Bugti broke no law. They breached no protocol. Their rendition reflected the values of our Constitution and remained true to the original anthem. You asked for thoughts These are mine. Feel free to disagree,” she said, tagging Siddiqui.

Siddiqui’s next story read: “In simple English, I did NOT mention either the artists or their ethnicity. Why stoke unnecessary controversy when there is none? Peace out.”

The next response came from surprising quarters — Farhan Saeed. “Adnan Siddiqui I really respect you and know that you never do anything which in anyway is to hurt someone or just to gain points. You probably felt it. But Khuda ka Wasta [for God’s sake], the last thing we want is to add another thing in ‘not to do’ lists of Pakistan. This is beautiful, enjoy it,” he implored. And so finished this rather lengthy debate that probably could have been had over WhatsApp or a cup of chai.

It seems that they’ve decided to leave it at this but at least their debate made for an interesting read this weekend.