Adnan Sami knew the Pakistani Army wasn't a force for good, prompting him to move out of the country, the singer has revealed. He shared an interaction he had with a group of young men from Pakistan during his trip to Baku, Azerbaijan.
"Met some very sweet Pakistani boys while walking on the beautiful streets of Baku," Mr Sami wrote on X.
"They said, 'Sir, you are very lucky. You left Pakistan at a good time. We also want to change our citizenship. We hate our army. They have destroyed our country!' I replied, 'I knew this long ago!'"
Mr Sami, born in the UK to a Pakistani father and an Indian mother, began living in India in 2001. He first held a visitor's visa and dual citizenship (Pakistan and Canada), before formally becoming an Indian citizen in 2016. Since then, he has not shied away from taking strong positions on issues involving Pakistan.
The post came in the wake of the Pahalgam tragedy where 26 people were killed in what is being called the worst attack in the Valley since Pulwama in 2019. Mr Sami, like many others, has publicly mourned the incident, saying it was a "horrific crime against humanity."
The singer also locked horns with Pakistani politician Fawad Chaudhry, the former Information and Broadcasting Minister of Pakistan. After India's Centre asked Pakistani nationals to leave the country in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, a journalist referenced the decision on social media. Mr Chaudhry took a jab, tweeting, "What about Adnan Sami?"
Mr Sami responded, "Who's going to tell this illiterate idiot!"
In response to another tweet, he called Mr Chaudhry a "dumba**" and said, "My roots are from Peshawar, not Lahore. To think that you were Minister of (Mis) Information and have no knowledge about any information!"
In 2022, Mr Sami said he had "no contempt" towards the people of Pakistan, but rather with the government. "I have major issues with the establishment," he wrote on Instagram.
He added, "Those who truly know me will also know what that establishment did to me for many years, which ultimately became one of the big reasons for me to leave Pakistan. One day, soon, I will expose the reality of how they treated me, which not many know, least of all the general public. It will shock many."
