The Indian media reported that Bollywood star Salman Khan has allegedly been placed on Pakistan’s “Fourth Schedule” under its Anti-Terrorism Act after making remarks about Balochistan, and is labelled a “terror facilitator”.
Salman Khan’s comments
The news emerged after Salman Khan’s remarks in Riyadh Saudi Arabia where he said that “Right now, if you make a Hindi film and release it here (in Saudi Arabia), it will be a superhit. If you make a Tamil, Telugu, or Malayali film, it will do hundreds of crores in business because so many people from other countries have come here. There are people from Balochistan, there are people from Afghanistan, there are people from Pakistan… everyone is working here.”
Fact Check
Later, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information & Broadcasting fact check denied the reports stating that “No Pakistani government official statement, notification or entry was found on NACTA’s proscribed persons page or any Ministry of Interior / provincial Home Department gazette notifying Salman Khan’s inclusion in Fourth Schedule.”
The ministry stated that “all publicly available reports stem from Indian media outlets repeating the allegation, but none trace back to an official Pakistani watch-list publication or formal announcement”
The fact check clarified that in absence of verifiable primary evidence, the claim remains unverified and false. Given the optics, this appears to be a sensational headline rather than a substantiated fact.
Motives behind the fake news
- Click-bait & sensationalism: Bollywood stars generate huge traffic; linking them to “terror” in the cross-border Pakistan-India context heightens eyeballs.
- Narrative amplification: Reinforces a familiar Indian media trope of Pakistan acting aggressively or arbitrarily aligns with domestic audiences’ expectations.
- Distraction or diversion: Possibly used to shift focus from other issues by creating a high-profile controversy involving a popular celebrity.
- Political signalling: Even if false, such stories can serve to raise tensions, reinforce nationalistic sentiment, or feed into broader bilateral rivalry narratives.
Advisory
- Always check for official Pakistani government notifications (Interior Ministry, Home Department Balochistan, Anti-Terrorism Act schedules) before accepting such claims.
- Treat celebrity-related national-security headlines with caution, verify via primary legal documents, not second-hand media.
- Be aware of the propaganda value of such stories in an India-Pakistan context, they may serve agendas beyond facts.
