Pakistan javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem's Instagram account blocked in India

Following a wave of restrictions on Pakistani social media figures, Olympic gold medalist and javelin star Arshad Nadeem’s Instagram account has now been blocked in India.

The move comes days after the government restricted access to several Pakistani YouTube channels and celebrity accounts in the aftermath of the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which left 26 people dead.

Users trying to visit Nadeem’s profile are greeted with the message: “Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content.”

Earlier, the YouTube accounts of former Pakistani cricketers Shoaib Akhtar, Basit Ali, and Shahid Afridi were withheld. Interestingly, while their YouTube content is now inaccessible, their Instagram profiles remain active—unlike Nadeem’s.

Instagram accounts of other Pakistani cricketers, including Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, are still viewable in India. However, actors like Mahira Khan and Ali Zafar have also reportedly had their Instagram access blocked in the country.

Nadeem, who won gold at the Paris Olympics after upstaging Indian superstar Neeraj Chopra, had been invited by the latter to participate in the inaugural NC Classic javelin event scheduled for May 24 in Bengaluru. However, he declined the invitation, citing prior commitments. — with PTI