Salman Khan separates Balochan from Pakan at Saudi event, fans laud actor’s comments: ‘A subtle but bold dinction’ | Bollywood News

Actor Salman Khan recently attended the Joy Forum 2025 in Riyadh and shared the stage with his contemporaries Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan. During a discussion, Salman made a comment about people from Balochan, which has since then sparked debate.
During a panel discussion along with SRK and Aamir, Salman talked about the number of people who have shifted from the Indian subcontinent or Southeast Asia to the Middle East in search of employment.
He used that fact to argue that films from the area in question are bound to do well in places like Saudi Arabia. The actor said, “See, right now if you make a Hindi film and release it here (Saudi), it will be a superhit. If you make a Tamil, Telugu or Malayali film, they will do hundreds of crores of business. Just in this part, because so many people from our countries have come here. There are people from Balochan, Afghanan, and Pakan, and everyone is working here.”
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While people didn’t disagree with the logic behind Salman Khan’s argument, netizens were quick to notice that Salman Khan made a very clear dinction between people from Balochan and Pakan. For context, Balochan is the largest province of Pakan and also the least developed. Since about 2000, the area has been marred insurgency, human rights violations and war, while the people of the region have been trying to gain independence from all the powers they share their borders with: Pakan, Iran and Taliban-controlled Afghanan. The Balochan army is even considered a terror organisation the Pakani government.
Because many people refrain from referring to the controversial province as anything other than a part of Pakan, Salman Khan’s remarks have sparked considerable debate. While some have praised the actor for clearly dinguishing between Pakan and Balochan, others argue that his statement is part of a larger strategy.
Fans on X (formerly Twitter) flooded the site with their own interpretation. One user wrote, “It’s rare to hear such a subtle but bold dinction in mainstream media. separating ‘people of Balochan’ from ‘people of Pakan’, Salman Khan has indirectly acknowledged the unique identity and struggles of Balochan.” Another user said, “Doesn’t seem to be a slip of the tongue. Well done, Salman Khan.”Story continues below this ad
On the other hand, some were adamant that this isn’t a serious political statement the actor. A user wrote, “Maybe a new movie in the making, Bajrangi Bhaijaan 2: Mission Balochan.” Many netizens also argued that Salman wanted to mention Bangladesh and not Balochan.