The passing of Asha (Mangeshkar) Bhosle this April was a loss felt by the nearly 1.7 billion people across both India and Pakistan.Her very first ballad Chala Chala Nav Bala in 1943, at the age of 10, was for a Marathi film called Majha Bal. Her voice reigned Bollywood female lead artists so much so that every leading actress – be it Zeenat Aman, Parveen Babi, Shabana Azmi or the many others worth their weight in gold – was associated with Bhosle’s ethereal powerful famine voice. For Helen, the queen of dance numbers through the 1960-80s, Bhosle was always the voice. Among the most famous songs, including those composed by R.D. Burman and others, were Dum Maaro Dum from the film Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Piya Tu Ab To Aaja from Caravan, Dil Cheez Kya Hai (Umrao Jaan), and Jhumka Gira Re (Mera Saaya) – all of them still etched in our memories.Asha ji was loved and revered in Pakistan as much as in India.On April 12, as the news arrived, Pakistani social media platforms and television channels filled up with her tributes as people mourned and celebrated her. On social media, Pakistani fans discussed how her voice touched their lives across at least three generations. Personally, I remember the Helen cabaret dance number she performed on Piya Tu Ab To Aaja. As a diplomat’s daughter, we lived in many countries. My first introduction to Indian movies was at the age of about 10 or 11 years in Copenhagen, where I was glued to Indian movies. The desi grocery stores had a bunch of video cassettes which we would rent. My classmates of varied nationalities – Egyptian, Danish, American, Japanese – all began to enjoy the song-dance, and understood my obsession with Indian movies. In many of our play dates, we used to imitate those dance numbers – Asha Boshle’s voice playing in the background and all of us twirling and moving to the music in joy.I have to admit, from a very young age I preferred Asha ji voice over her sister, Lata Mangeshkar’s. It was like the Zeenat Aman vs Parveen Babi camps (I was team Parveen Babi).These past few days through the fog of war, mediation buzz and tensions, Pakistanis have returned to Asha ji’s songs. We have her image on our status update icons and have held desi wakes remembering the legend.That was until the government, in its wisdom, decided to send Geo TV – which aired a series of songs as a tribute – a show-cause notice for airing Indian songs and movie clips. The notice issued to Geo News was under charges, primarily focusing on the violation of a 2018 Supreme Court of Pakistan order restricting Indian content. Specifically, the broadcast was accused of violating Section 20 (f) of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Ordinance, 2002, and various rules, including the Electronic Media (Programmes and Advertisements) Code of Conduct, 2015. Thankfully, the Pakistani public is a little more mature and immediately condemned this silly notice as a tone-deaf response by the government. The people of Pakistan share a culture of art music and heritage with India and appreciate both our iconic artists, irrespective of nationality. Both countries’ polities remain locked in an unending war and demonise each other in all forms of despicable ways and continue to pull up walls and disinformation through propaganda, movies and fake news about one another. Still, can you stop me from loving Amir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, or Ranbir Kapoor? And Asha ji’s voice? There is a generation or two who remember better times and continue to love our classical and Bollywood film phases. You can’t erase our experiences. Pakistanis have grown up loving Indian movies and their singers and actors.Looking at the comments under the Geo TV notice by PEMRA is a testament of the sanity that foundationally prevails in Pakistani society. We might rally around our government when it is under attack from outside forces, but we will not deny our shared love and admiration of iconic artists of the subcontinent. That would be denying our own culture.