Anoushey Ashraf has responded to Maria B’s criticism of Indian designer shoot in Pakistan and people are both lauding and trolling her.
“Maybe we should be the ‘bigger person’ here,” Anoushey commented on Maliha Rehman’s post reshared from Maria’s account. “Artists should never be stopped from working in other countries.”
Maria shared photos from Abhinav’s campaign shot in Pakistan and questioned why designers from across the border are being allowed work in Pakistan while Pakistani artists remained banned in India. “Shouldn’t we, as an industry, be reacting the same way as India is towards our designers and creators rather than a one-sided relationship?” she remarked.
Anoushey believes, however, that artists should not be associated with the government in this argument and that they are the only ones trying to bring people together.
Many people criticised Anoushey and asked her the same question that Maria did about the Indian ban. Some even called Yasir Hussain out for staying silent when he is the first to raise voice when it comes to Turkish actors working in Pakistan.
Anoushey said, however, that allowing Indian designers to work in Pakistan doesn’t mean brushing the Kashmir crisis aside. “You can always stand up for Kashmir. It’s our moral obligation to do so.”
Maria, while expressing her disappointment, was referring to the complete ban on Pakistani artists in India by the All Indian Cine Workers Association, after the 2019 Pulwama attack. Before this, Mahira Khan couldn’t promote her film Raees with Shahrukh Khan when actors were asked to leave India in the wake of the 2016 Uri attack.
