Pahalgam terror attack: Centre blocks 16 Pakistani YouTube channels, objects to BBC coverage
The government wrote to the British broadcaster, asking why it described the attackers as ‘militants’ instead of ‘terrorists’.
The Union government on Sunday banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly disseminating false and provocative content in the backdrop of the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22.
The channels include those of news organisations such as Dawn News, Samaa TV, Ary News and Geo News. The 16 channels have 63.08 million followers put together.
When accessed from India, a message on these channels reads: “This content is currently unavailable in this country because of an order from the government related to national security or public order.”
The government also sent a letter to the BBC asking why it described the attackers as “militants” instead of “terrorists”, The Hindu reported, quoting an unidentified government official. The government is said to be closely monitoring the British public service broadcaster’s coverage of the attack.
The government approached the channel’s head Jackie Martin and conveyed its strong sentiments in connection with the matter, the newspaper quoted the official as saying.
#JUSTIN:The Centre has banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels for disseminating provocative, communally sensitive content, false, misleading narratives against India, its Army & security agencies in the backdrop of the tragic Pahalgam terror incident in J&K.@IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/L0MIzGG19g
— Mahender Singh Manral (@mahendermanral) April 28, 2025
The terror attack at Baisaran near the town of Pahalgam on April 22 left 26 persons dead and 17 injured. The terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those killed were Hindu.
In the aftermath of the attack, the Centre on April 24 announced that the visas of Pakistani citizens in India would stand revoked from Sunday and that they had to leave the country before then. India also suspended visa services to Pakistani citizens with immediate effect.
At the end of the deadline, 537 Pakistanis had left India through the Attari-Wagah border crossing in Punjab.
Pakistani citizens may also have left India using air routes via a third country, unidentified officials told PTI. There are no direct flights between India and Pakistan.
A day after the attack, India also suspended the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 amid diplomatic tensions. India said that the treaty would remain in abeyance until Pakistan “credibly and irrevocably” stopped its support for cross-border terrorism.
