Pakistani actress Mehwish Hayat has said celebrities should be more responsible in their actions. Her comments came during a week when she also accused Bollywood of fuelling the rise of anti-Muslim hatred.

This weekend she is in Bradford attending several charitable events.

Mehwish spoke out after Indian actress Priyanka Chopra was accused of "encouraging nuclear war" over comments she made amid soaring tensions between India and Pakistan.

Chopra was confronted by an audience member at a cosmetics event in Los Angeles. The woman, who named herself on Twitter as Ayesha Malik, was handed the microphone during the Q&A portion of a BeautyCon panel featuring Chopra.

Writing for CNN today Mehwish Hayat said, "Celebrity activism often escapes the kind of scrutiny most political activism is subjected to. It is often seen as either positive or pointless -- but rarely dangerous.

"It's easy to understand why. From Susan Sarandon greeting refugees on the coast of Greece, to Leonardo DiCaprio jetting around the world to protest climate change, the high-profile activism of Hollywood celebrities diverts us, but seems to present no threat to society.

"But Bollywood is a very different beast. Perhaps alarmed by Hollywood's open opposition to his ally Donald Trump, Indian PM Modi has arguably co-opted and weaponized the country's film industry. It is difficult, often impossible, for Pakistani actors to find work in India. Pakistan is a Muslim majority nation, and Islamophobia is a top-down industry in India: at the top, hyper-nationalist films, songs and slogans teach the masses to hate. At the grassroots, Muslims have been killed for so-called "crimes," such as eating beef."

 

 

She added, "Some issues are too important to play politics with. One of those is Kashmir -- a small, impoverished territory where now India has made its move, heedless of an international community keen to avoid conflict between two nuclear armed states.

"The humanitarian situation there is at a breaking point, with food and medical supplies being kept out as the territory is embargoed. Medical facilities are struggling to cope with a population that has been the victim of alleged war crimes that have not spared even young children - including the "biggest mass blinding in history," when Indian troops fired pellets into crowds of Kashmiris to break up civilian demonstrations in 2016.

"The irony is that hyper-nationalist Indians who dance to the same tune as Priyanka Chopra believe these civilians to be Indian citizens, meaning that those crimes are being inflicted on their fellow Indians."

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Earlier when speaking in Oslo, Norway where she was awarded the Pride of Performance award by Norway’s Prime Minister, Erna Solberg she was criticla of the role Bollywood played in changing defining people's perceptions.

She said, "Our neighbours have one of the largest film industries in the world. And in a time where they could have used the power they wield to bring us together, what do they do? 

"They make countless films showing Pakistanis as the villains. I have lost count of the number of films even in the last year that Pakistan has been shown in a bad light.

“I understand that given our history our upbringing and the politics of the region, it is very difficult to be neutral and in being so can be seen as unpatriotic. However, if we want any semblance of peace for future generations we as artistes have to see beyond nationalism and take a stand. So what is the answer?

“I think that the first thing is that we as the Pakistani industry have to be less insular. We have to realise that through our films we can get a more nuanced picture of our country across to our international audiences.”