ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistan's government is considering a parliamentary proposal to lift a four-decade ban on showing movies from rival India, a statement said Tuesday.
Islamic Pakistan officially outlawed all Bollywood films after going to war with its mainly Hindu eastern neighbour in 1965 over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.
But a Pakistani senate committee said that the ban should be overturned because Indian films were now widely available here -- and hugely popular -- on DVD and cable.
"This should be done in a manner which may promote healthy competition at home and without harming our religious and cultural norms and values," committee chairman Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry said in a statement.
The statement added: "The ban has practically become ineffective as these are being viewed uncensored in almost every household on cable TV as well as CDs and DVDs, necessitating a reappraisal to deal with the issue rationally."
In 2006 President Pervez Musharraf issued a special decree allowing three Indian movies to be shown in Pakistan, including the movie Taj Mahal, which starred Pakistani actress Sonia Jehan.
Relations between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have thawed since they launched a slow-moving peace process in 2004, partly involving cultural exchanges.
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