Salman Khan sparked controversy last week after invoking Balochistan during an event in Saudi Arabia — with many wondering if it was a deliberate political statement or an unintended slip. The actor had mentioned the contentious region separately from Pakistan while talking about expats working in the Gulf region. It found favour with Baloch leaders but left many in Pakistan fuming. Unverified reports suggested on Sunday that Islamabad had now put Khan on a terror watchlist for his remark.
Multiple media platforms (including the government-run DD News) reported on Sunday that Khan had been labelled a terrorist by Pakistani authorities. The reports cited a purported notification from the ‘government of Balochistan’ published on October 16 that “recommended” his addition to the fourth schedule of the Pakistani Anti-Terrorism Act. It accused him of being an “azad Balochistan facilitator”.
Is this a real notification?
The now-viral notification appears to be a forgery with several glaring discrepancies.
Salman Khan had made the remarks during the two-day event in Riyadh spanning October 16 and 17. But while the missive is dated October 16, it claims that the recommendation for Khan to be tagged as a “terrorist” was given on October 7. Simply put, the Balochistan reference came nearly 10 days after the alleged ‘official’ call for Khan to be placed on a terror watch list.
It has also not received any coverage whatsoever on Pakistani media platforms — despite going viral on social media and being picked up by news sites in neighbouring India. An additional indicator is the fact that a provincial government appears to have ‘issued’ the order. It is typically the federal government of a country that has the authority to declare a foreign national as a terrorist.
What had Salman Khan said?
“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,” Khan had said last week.
The clip from Joy Forum 2025 in Riyadh had quickly gone viral with many wondering if the distinction had been a deliberate choice. Many have interpreted his remark has a significant and deliberate acknowledgment of Balochistan — sparking rather polarised reactions from several quarters.
The brief (and perhaps unintentional) acknowledgement had also garnered praise from local leaders — with Mir Yar Baloch telling ThePrint earlier this week that the comment was being “celebrated” by millions from the region.
“The heartfelt mention of Balochistan by Indian film legend Salman Khan during an event in Saudi Arabia has been overwhelmingly celebrated across the Republic of Balochistan and by over 60 million Baloch citizens worldwide. While Balochistan has often been referenced in Indian films and series, this moment stands apart — it was not scripted on a movie set, but spoken sincerely on the soil of Saudi Arabia, home to a vast Baloch diaspora,” he was quoted as saying.