ISLAMABAD – Pakistani rapper Talha Anjum found himself at center of social media controversy this past weekend after Karachi Chal star draped himself in an Indian flag during live performance in Nepal Concert.
The incident quickly went viral, triggering heated online debates and leaving fans and critics divided. Talha addressed controversy on 365 News morning show Rise and Shine, hosted by Nadia Khan and Zohaib Hassan. In clip that ignited outrage, a fan handed him an Indian flag mid-performance, and he was seen waving it and placing it over his shoulders. Many viewers interpreted the gesture as disrespectful, given the ongoing tension between Islamabad and New Delhi.
Anjum said the moment felt very different in real time. “I was performing Kaun Talha, my diss track aimed at Indian rapper Naezy, when an Indian fan handed me a flag,” he said. “In the heat of the moment, I took it. It was handed to me in a respectful way. I understood it as a sign of support from the crowd, despite the song’s target.”
When host Nadia Khan suggested he could have simply put the flag aside, Anjum admitted he hadn’t realized how long he had held it, saying the excitement of the performance made him unaware of the optics.
The apology comes after several days of online debate. Initially, Anjum had doubled down, saying he would “do it again” and insisting that his art transcends borders. On X, he wrote: “If me raising an Indian flag sparks controversy, so be it. I’ll do it again… will never care about the media, the war-mongering governments and their propagandas. Urdu rap is and will always be borderless.”
However, on the show, he made it clear that his latest apology is unconditional. “To everyone whose heart has been hurt by any of my actions, I sincerely apologize. My success is all because of Pakistan. Everywhere I go, they call me the finest Pakistani rapper,” he said.
Ordinarily, the gesture might have been seen as a symbol of cross-border camaraderie. But in the current Pakistan–India climate, tensions run high. Since the May conflict, cultural exchanges have largely halted—Indian platforms have removed Pakistani music, social media accounts of Pakistani celebrities have been blocked, and fans in India now often rely on VPNs to stream content. Even cricket, which sometimes softens the border, has been affected, with incidents of Indian players refusing to shake hands with Pakistani counterparts.
