Sindh government spokesperson accuses Hafiz Naeem …

Several Pakistani celebrities have spoken out over the recent unrest in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), using their social media platforms to express solidarity with residents while urging peace, justice and accountability. Among the first to react was actor Durefishan Saleem, who shared a lengthy Instagram post explaining why she believes speaking about political and social issues is a responsibility rather than a choice. “You’re too political. Of course I am. How could I not be when everything happening around me is connected to the lives we live?” she wrote. The actor added that the decisions made by those in power affect every aspect of daily life. “The prices we pay, the education we receive, the opportunities we get, and the future we are slowly building are all affected by the choices made by people in power. I speak up because I pay attention.” She concluded her message by saying she did not want to remain silent until issues directly affected her. “I don’t want to be the person who only starts caring when an issue finally reaches my doorstep.” Ending the post, she wrote, “Yes, I am political. Because how can I not be, when this is the country I call home.” Several other celebrities, including Hania Aamir, Mahira Khan, Osman Khalid Butt, Minal Khan, Komal Meer, Nadia Afgan, Kinza Hashmi and Hina Afridi, also shared posts highlighting the situation and expressing support for the people of AJK. Television host Anoushey Ashraf voiced concern over reports that Gaza-based activist Mushtaq Ahmed had allegedly been prevented from entering Kashmir while attempting to express solidarity with residents. Sharing her thoughts on Instagram Stories, she wrote, “They behave like they’ve given us such amazing lives that we stop trusting our own people and trust them? Trust your brothers in Pakistan. They’re our families and our sisters. Our children. Not anyone else’s agents.” Actor Mashal Khan also addressed the violence through an emotional video, captioning it, “Human life is HUMAN LIFE.” In the video, she questioned the growing loss of human compassion. “What is happening in the world? Every day on Instagram, there is something happening somewhere. This many people have died, that many people have died. We’ve made human lives worthless, as if the lives of mothers and children are worth money. Sometimes Kashmir, sometimes Iran.” Comedian Tabish Hashmi also shared a video expressing his concerns. “I don’t know what the consequences will be for speaking out about this in this country, but what I have been seeing on social media is very disheartening,” he said. He added, “There is not much I can do besides make this video and share my voice, hoping that it can help bring about change.” Actor Mishi Khan urged more members of Pakistan’s entertainment industry to publicly address the issue instead of remaining silent. “In showbiz, there have been many Gen Z protests that were talked about in India, and now when it comes to Pakistan, Azad Kashmir and Balochistan, why are we not raising our voices?” she asked. She continued, “I am not saying to take up arms or go out onto the streets, but as citizens of Pakistan, it is our right to raise our voices on social media, speak out against what is wrong, and stand with the people of Kashmir.” Actors Samar Jafri and Bilal Qureshi also joined the growing calls for solidarity. Jafri shared an Instagram Story that read, “Sad to see what’s happening in our country. My heart goes out to the people of Azad Kashmir.” Meanwhile, Qureshi criticised the entertainment industry for overlooking the issue. “Disrespect happens in the industry every day. Please, for God’s sake, talk about the national issue affecting our brothers and sisters and raise your voices for them. Kashmir bleeds!” he wrote. As videos and reports from AJK continue to circulate online, public figures across Pakistan’s entertainment industry have increasingly used their platforms to call for peace, justice and support for those affected.

Javed Akhtar has been writing words that endure for more than five decades, and in a candid conversation with Vogue India, he turned his gaze toward what he believes is happening to creativity in the digital age. What he found does not reassure him. The veteran lyricist and screenwriter argued that the internet and its algorithms have created a culture of creative fear, one in which people are no longer willing to take the risk of doing something that has not already been done before. “The echo chambers created by the internet have made most people afraid to do something for the first time,” he said. “Once someone else does it, they’re fine to follow in their footsteps.” He extended that observation into a broader concern about how people engage with ideas and the world around them. “People no longer want to pause, think, analyse or sit with an idea. They are living happily, so why would they bother to think about this universe or the vastness of nature? For them, it is a waste of time.” For Akhtar, this impatience is incompatible with the kind of work that lasts. “Meaningful creation requires time, discomfort and reflection,” he said, adding that his own willingness to question dominant voices and widely accepted ideologies has always come from exactly that kind of sustained engagement with ideas. He was particularly pointed about the music industry and the way commercial priorities have pushed the role of lyrics to the margins. “Today, words have become less important because the marketing team has decided that slow music won’t trend,” he said. The result, in his view, is an industry that remixes old material with inferior new writing rather than producing something genuinely fresh. “But then they take those same songs, edit the mukhras and remix them with some inferiorly written antaras. There was a time when writers had more space. Today, other forces dictate what music gets made. And yet, songs that are decades old still endure, while many recent ones have a short shelf life.” His advice to young writers was direct and unglamorous. Read more. Not only classical literature and celebrated authors, but light reading too. “The real loss is not in reading something trivial but in not reading at all,” he said. On the creative process itself, Akhtar drew a distinction that cuts to the heart of what separates craft from genuine art. “All arts can be divided into two parts. On one hand, there’s imagination, passion, fantasy and romance, and on the other, there is craft. You can learn the craft in a crash course. But imagining, fantasising and romanticising cannot be learned. There are no courses for yearning.” He closed with a lesson passed down from his father that has stayed with him throughout his career. “It is very easy to write in difficult language, but very difficult to write in easy language. When you write simply, there is no space for your idea to hide behind big words. Only if you are totally convinced of what you are writing can you afford to use transparent language.” It is a principle that has shaped some of Hindi cinema’s most enduring words, and one that no algorithm is likely to teach.