The Bombay High Court has rejected a petition, which sought a complete ban on employing Pakistani artists to work in India on the grounds that being a true patriot did not mean being hostile to foreigners.
The order was passed last week by the Division Bench of Justice Sunil Shukre and Justice Firdosh Pooniwalla on a petition filed by one Faaiz Anwar Qureshi, who claimed himself as a cine worker and artist.
Quresh sought a complete ban on employing or soliciting any work or performance, taking of any services, or entering into any association and so on with any Pakistani artists, including its cine workers, singers, musicians, lyricists and technicians.
The High Court, while dismissing the petition, noted that the petitioner’s ‘perception‘ of patriotism and understanding of the concept of fundamental rights was misplaced.
It said one must understand that in order to be a patriot, one needed not to be inimical to those from abroad.
Explaining what a ‘true patriot’ actually meant, the High Court called the petition a ‘retrograde’ step in promoting cultural harmony, unity and peace, which had no merit in it.
The single-judge Bench noted that these kinds of bans would agitate against the fundamental right guaranteed under Articles 19 (1) (a), 19 (1) (g) and 21 of the Constitution of India and therefore, they would be manifestly illegal.