India blacklists Pakistani organiser of Bollywood events in Houston

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has blacklisted Houston based Pakistani event manager Rehan Siddiqui associated with organising Bollywood events in the US. 

The issue surfaced earlier this year when the link between his organising of Bollywood events and funding of anti-India propaganda especially related Kashmir had surfaced. 

The matter was raised by Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale from Mumbai south-central constituency. He had written a letter on February 17 to the home minister highlighting the issue requesting, "to desist Indian artists to collude with anti-India elements in the US."

The MHA, via the External Affairs Ministry, has requested Indian mission in Washington DC and Consulate General of India in Houston to engage with cultural bodies, "bona fide Bollywood affiliates local entities to ensure that appropriate message is conveyed to Indian actors and artists so that they disassociate themselves from such anti-national elements".

The Rehan Siddiqui incident had caused a lot of social media backlash with calls to boycott the event organised by him for Bollywood.