As Punjabi sensation Diljit Dosanjh continues to face India’s wrath for Pakistani actress Hania Aamir’s casting controversy tied to the movie Sardaar Ji 3, rapper Honey Singh‘s partnership with Pakistani star Mehwish Hayat has also resurfaced for different contentious reasons. Having been released in November 2024, the video in question has garnered nearly 40 million views on YouTube alone.
One of the final scenes of the video credits Singh for the screenplay and direction, while Mihir Gulati served as its creative director. Here’s why the beloved Indian rapper and the Ms Marvel star have landed in trouble with the UK government.
India’s Honey Singh and Pakistan’s Mehwish Hayat could be banned from entering the UK
The Birmingham-set music video with Yo Yo Honey Singh and Mehwish Hayat, who appeared as a recurring character in the Disney+ series Ms Marvel, has prompted the UK government to take strict action against the South Asian celebrities. Sources have since spilled to Deadline that UK officials are already considering issuing exclusion orders for the Indian hip-hop sensation and the Pakistani actress, which would ultimately result in them being banned from the United Kingdom.
The chatter around their potential ban comes after Manuela Perteghella, the MP for the West Midlands constituency of Stratford-upon-Avon, formally raised a complaint to the UK government’s Home Office. She targeted Honey Singh’s “Jatt Mehkma” music video as its gangster-inspired storyline depicts young kids brandishing imitation guns.
Responding to the complaint’s registration, she briefly indicated that she was “waiting for the Home Office response to our queries.” She held back on commenting further on the four-minute video filmed at Eastnor, Castle, Heredfordshire. Similarly, a Home Office spokesperson also turned away from commenting on the issue at the present stage.
Meanwhile, a source privy to the development said the Home Office may end up prohibiting Honey Singh and Mehwish Hayat from entering the UK altogether as they are “not conducive to the public good” under immigration rules. An official confirmation or negation of the potential ban has yet to be announced.
British Muslim leader condemns Honey Singh-Mehwish Hayat music video
Shocked by what the video presents as its subject matter, Shaykh Paul Salahuddin Armstrong, managing director of the Association of British Muslims and a chaplain at the University of Birmingham, urged child protection authorities to investigate.
“As someone who has worked with vulnerable youth for nearly two decades, I find this incident profoundly disturbing,” he said. “To see British children brandishing imitation firearms in a stylised gang scene, filmed on our soil and facilitated by UK production companies, is not only a moral failure, but potentially a legal one.”
He added, “This is not art. It is the reckless glorification of violence, dressed up as cultural entertainment. It undermines all our collective efforts to steer young people away from gang culture and towards lives of dignity, purpose, and contribution to society.”
The exclusive report further emphasised that an exclusion order imposition seemed to be an easier way out than pursuing a legal case against non-UK nationals despite the viral video being under scanner for possibly disregarding multiple laws, including the use of imitation firearms and exposing minors to questionable content.