Salman Khan's 'Balochistan and Pakistan' remark at Saudi event kicks up online debate
Salman Khan mentioned Pakistan and Balochistan separately while speaking at an event in Saudi Arabia recently.
Bollywood actor Salman Khan stirred up an online debate after he mentioned Balochistan and Pakistan separately while speaking at the Joy Forum 2025 in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh which he attended alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Amir Khan between October 16 and 17.
Salman Khan was speaking about the mass appeal of Indian movies abroad.
“Right now, 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,” he said while referring to South Asian living in Middle East.
Though it is not clear if Salman Khan deliberately mentioned Balochistan separately or it was a slip up, social media is filled with reactions some thanking him, other wondering if he meant what he said.
“Salman Khan Mentions “Balochistan” Seprates from Pakistan because he knows Balochistan is a Different country,” wrote an X user.
Another took to X and said, "Even Bollywood superstar @BeingSalmanKhan knows that Balochistan is The land of ancestors, the al balushi people."
Conflict in Balochistan
Balochistan is a mineral-rich province located in the southwestern region of Pakistan, bordered by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh and also shares international border with with Iran to the west and Afghanistan to the north.
While the conflict in Balochistan dates back to the 1947 partition, the sentiment of autonomy and liberation from Pakistan was renewed following the formation of Bangladesh in 1970s. Human rights violations, resource exploitation and political marginalisation.
About 10,000 Baloch have disappeared in Pakistan since 2011, according to Amnesty International data.
