Young Stunners' inaugural Indian tour in jeopardy

Pakistan's leading rappers Young Stunners are back in the news but this time it has more to do with their social media than their music. They are facing backlash over member Talha Anjum's anti-India tweets that have surfaced ahead of their first-ever Indian tour in December later this year, raising questions about the status of their concerts.

Karachi-based rappers Talha Anjum and Talha Yunus are the Young Stunners, who, along with producer Jokhay, are still set to perform in Mumbai on December 13, Bengaluru on December 21, and New Delhi on December 25.

The excitement for the tour was dampened by the controversy over Anjum's tweets in which he criticized Indian pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman and made derogatory remarks about the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Leading music company Skillbox has removed the events from their website after receiving backlash. "We do not support sentiments that incite hate or violence against India," Skillbox stated, clarifying that they were never the promoters of the event and were disturbed by personal attacks on their team members.

Social media erupted with responses, many condemning the rappers for their past comments. One user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote, "Kaun Talha? The one who wrote tweets against Kashmir. The one who spewed hate against Modi. The one who mocked Abhinandan. India's hater Talha. Such a shame that he is allowed to do a show in India."

Desi Disco Entertainment, the organizer of the Young Stunners' tour, insists that the shows in India are still on schedule, with registrations for the Mumbai concert now available on a different website.

Vaheed Khan, the head of Desi Disco, told Indian newspaper The Print that the backlash is part of a coordinated effort to sabotage the event due to refusals to collaborate with certain groups. "I will ensure the show goes ahead and won't be deterred by a few tweets," Khan stated. He claimed that many of the critical tweets were fabricated and unrelated to Talha or Pakistan, suggesting that those behind the outrage were seeking a share of the revenue and retaliated when their logos were excluded.

Khan also revealed that following the announcement on August 1, the tour saw 16,000 registrations within the first 12 hours across the three cities, with 600 people working to manage the process.

Despite Desi Disco's clarification, debate continues on the post shared by the company on their Instagram. Some argue for the show's cancellation, while others are eager to see Young Stunners perform in India. Additionally, some potential attendees are concerned about losing their money if they purchase tickets and the concert is ultimately canceled.

This isn't the first time such a controversy has occurred. Last year, TV presenter Zainab Abbas, who was part of the International Cricket Council's presentation team for the ICC World Cup in India, faced backlash over her past tweets. She was criticized for her controversial tweets on social media and had to leave India because of security concerns.

Zainab Abbas: Pakistan reporter who left India sorry for old postswww.bbc.com

With the Young Stunners' concert scheduled for December, the ongoing controversy casts doubt on whether the event will proceed as planned. The rappers, however, haven’t made any announcements about this tour on their social media. Meanwhile, they’re actively sharing updates about tours in Australia and Canada.

Meanwhile, Pakistani actors and actresses are part of Zee Zindagi's webseries Barzakh which concluded its six-episode run on Tuesday. It is also rumoured that Barzakh star Fawad Khan and popular actress Sajal Aly will be making their Bollywood comeback soon.