Anurag Kashyap on Sunday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apologise for his trip to Pakistan last December. On his way home from Kabul, PM Modi had halted in Lahore last year for a surprise meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.

The filmmaker was venting out his frustration following the Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India's decision to not screen movies with Pakistani actors, a move that has hit Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil which features Fawad Khan.

“We solve all our problems by blaming it on movies and banning them,“ Kashyap tweeted. “Narendra Modi Sir, you haven't yet said sorry for your trip to meet the Pakistani PM. It was December 25, the same time that KJo was shooting Ae Dil Hai Mushkil? Why? Narendra Modi, why is it that we have to face it while you can be silent? Narendra Modi, you actually diverted your trip on our tax money, while the film shot then was on money which someone here pays interest on. I am just trying to understand the situation because I am actually dumb and I don't get it. Sorry if you feel offended. By the way, Bharat Mata ki Jai Sir Narendra Modi,“

He went on to say that he was complaining because he expected the government to protect the interests of its people and was questioning the PM because he had every right to do so. “I am not going to address a party that has become redundant and irrelevant and is trying to find relevance again by using the film industry,“ he averred.

“We have been vulnerable for long and have been paying the price by being used by everyone to find any kind of standing,“ he continued to grouse, pointing out that the real trade between the two countries across the border has not faced any kind of opposition.

He went on to say that anyone who questions his love for the country by shouting must prove their love by representing the country in an honourable way. “I refuse to live in the fear created by blind fanatics that you cannot have a conversation with your PM or question him or expect from him. I would rather ask my questions directly to the PM than trying to impress him by fake nationalism of banning, 'what puts you in news',“ maintained Kashyap who has directed films like Black Friday, Dev.D, Gulaal, Gangs of Wasseypur and Bombay Velvet.

Earlier this year, Kashyap drew Modi's attention to the controversy surrounding the censorship of his co-production film Udta Punjab, which then released on June 17. He later said that the media should stop trying to call him because they were only wasting their time. He had said all that he had to say and they were not “drunk tweets“.

The Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India on Friday said that movies featuring Pakistani actors would not be screened in single screen theatres in Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat. The decision came amid heightened India-Pakistan tensions in the wake of a terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian Army's surgical strikes on Pakistani territory.

Shah Rukh Khan's Dear Zindagi and Raees are also under the radar for featuring Pakistan actors, Ali Zafar and Mahira Khan.