Pulwama latest news: FWICE vows to boycott and ban Pakistani artistes during the Bollywood blackout

We revealed to you exclusively how the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) had called upon Bollywood to observe a black day on February 17 following the Pulwama terror attack. We had mentioned how the nodal body for all cine employees had requested Bollywood to halt work for a couple of hours. And that’s what happened today (Sunday, February 17). The latest news is that FWICE members along with representatives of the 24 crafts gathered at Goregaon Film City (Mumbai) to show solidarity. They prayed for the martyred CRPF soldiers, while condemning the Pulwama attack. They even vowed to boycott and ban Pakistani artistes in Hindi films.

To the uninitiated, let us tell you that shooting of Salman Khan’s Bharat, Amitabh Bachchan – Virender Sehwag’s advertisement campaign and several TV shows were halted. Bollywood blacked out completely from 2 pm to 4 pm today in support of the slain jawans. Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh also joined the FWICE and members of the 24 crafts. They even spoke to the media. FWICE President B.N. Tiwari, while addressing the crowd, revealed that the Pakistani artiste ban will be implemented once again. He mentioned to PTI, “All the film bodies have decided to completely boycott any Pakistani artiste working in Hindi films.”

For those of you who remember, the CINTAA and FWICE had imposed a ban on Pakistani artistes after the deadly Uri attacks, which took place a few years ago. Stars like Mahira Khan, Fawad Khan, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan had to return to Pakistan following this move. But the band fizzled out after a couple of months. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan returned and worked on the music of a few films. Pakistani stars Atif Aslam and Saba Qamar also worked in Bollywood recently. But we hear, the FWICE is going to make the ban even more stringent this time around. What do you guys have to say about this development? Share with us your thoughts in the comments section below!