On October 17, Bollywood stars Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Aamir Khan participated in an event called the ‘Joy Forum 2025’ held in Saudi Arabia. During the conversation, Salman Khan said, ‘If you make a Hindi film right now and release it in Saudi Arabia, it will be a blockbuster. If you make a Tamil, Telugu, or Malayalam film, they will do business worth hundreds of crores because there are a lot of people from different countries working here now. There are people from Balochistan, from Afghanistan, many have come from Pakistan—everyone is working here.’ Salman Khan’s statement has generated considerable discussion on the internet. It is claimed that Salman Khan claimed Balochistan as a separate country by mentioning it separately as a country’s name, even though it is a province of Pakistan. In this context, media outlets recently published the claim: ‘Recently, the Pakistan government labeled Salman Khan a ‘terrorist’ and banned him for referring to Balochistan as a separate country. The Pakistan government has included him in the Schedule-IV list under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997. This list is commonly known as the black list, which contains the names of individuals suspected of terrorism or security-related reasons.’
Reports published in the media with this claim: Somoy TV, RTV, Jamuna TV (YouTube), Channel24, NTV, Channel i, ATN Bangla, Desh TV, Kalbela, Bangladesh Pratidin, Kaler Kantho, Desh Rupantar, Jay Jay Din, Dainik Amader Shomoy, Dainik Azadi, Banglanews24, Jagonews24, Dhaka Mail, Dhaka Prokash, Rising BD, Barta24, Rupali Bangladesh (YouTube), Bahanno News, Dhaka Journal, Protidiner Kagoj, Barta Bazar, Khabarer Kagoj, Shukhobor, Corporate Sangbad, Talash BD, Jonotar Kontho, Joyjugantor,Dainik Shobuj Bangladesh, Bangla Brief, Dainik Destiny, VOD Bangla, Dainik Shorobor, Sokaler Alo.
It is worth noting that the claim discussed in Bangladeshi media was mainly propagated citing Indian media outlets.
Posts circulated on the Facebook pages of media outlets with this claim: See here (Archive), here (Archive), here (Archive), here (Archive).
Posts circulated on Instagram with this claim: See here (Archive), here (Archive), here (Archive).
Fact-Check
Rumor Scanner Team’s investigation reveals that the claim about Salman Khan being banned in Pakistan is not true. In fact, this fake claim was spread using a notice edited with the aid of digital technology.
In an investigation on this matter, observation of the social media accounts of the Government of Pakistan, the website of the Balochistan government, and the website of Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting did not find any evidence to support the claim. Furthermore, a relevant keyword search did not find the claim mentioned on any website associated with the Government of Pakistan.
Upon reviewing the news published in Indian media on this subject, it was found that most reports cited social media posts and a picture of a notice as the source for propagating the claim. The same picture of the notice was also found circulating on various social media accounts.
Subsequent observation revealed multiple inconsistencies in the notice. Firstly, the date of the notice is stated as October 16, but Salman Khan made the relevant comment one day later, on October 17. Secondly, the notice contains multiple spelling errors. For example, ‘BALOCIIISTAN’ instead of ‘BALOCHISTAN’, ‘Terrarism’ instead of ‘Terrorism’, ‘aftilisted’ instead of ‘affiliated’, and ‘concemed’ instead of ‘concerned’ are written. Additionally, the CNIC number used for Salman Khan is 11 digits, whereas a genuine CNIC is usually 13 digits. Significantly, the CNIC (Computerized National Identity Card) is a national identity document used for Pakistani citizens, which an Indian citizen like Salman Khan should not possess. Moreover, the mentioned CNIC number was verified on the Government of Pakistan’s ‘CNIC Information’ website and found to be incorrect.
In the search for the discussed notice, a picture of a notice was found on an X account named ‘Baloch Women Forum’ published on October 21. That notice mentioned the inclusion of three individuals in the Schedule-IV list under the discussed Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997. The notice number, date, and position of the signature in that original notice perfectly match those in the notice circulated with the claim. This confirms that the image of the notice circulated with the claim was created by digitally editing the original notice.
Furthermore, the Fact Check division of Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting announced in an X post on October 26 that there is no information in any official Pakistani government record or notice about Salman Khan’s name being included in the Fourth Schedule. The claim has been labeled false due to a lack of verifiable evidence.
Therefore, the claim that Salman Khan has been labeled a ‘terrorist’ and banned in Pakistan due to his comments about Balochistan is false.
Sources
- Baloch Women Forum – X Post
- Fact Checker MoIB – X Post
- CNIC Information – Check CNIC Information Pakistan
- Rumor Scanner’s analysis
