On Sunday, former cricketer Shahid Afridi made some very strong remarks, particularly about the Indian Army. He blamed them for not having stopped the recent attack in Pahalgam and that India should stop blaming Pakistan every time something goes wrong. Afridi wanted proof of any Pakistani link to the incident and was particularly scathing about the manner in which Indian media reported on it.
Afridi had a few things to say about the way the incident was covered. He pointed out how, with even the most minor incidents, Pakistan is interstate,” if a firecracker goes off in India, it’s- ‘Pakistan did it.’” He then asks how could such an attack have occurred given 800,000 troops blocking the area? “That shows you guys are not doing your job properly,” he argued. You can’t even safeguard your own.”
He also denounced Indian media for sensationalizing the story almost immediately. “It’s shocking how just an hour after the attack, their media shifted gears to talk about it as if it were a Bollywood movie,” Afridi said. “For Pete’s sake, don’t turn everything into entertainment.” It was really difficult to believe what I was hearing, but I could not help but find some humor in it.
Afridi went on to say that many people in India, no matter how educated or well-known, simply jump to conclusions about Pakistan. “You have former cricket stars who have played a lot against Pakistan and even they are quick to accuse without reason”. It’s as if they forget all that experience and just blame us without thinking twice.
To throw some light, the cricketing relations have been thriving since 2012-2013 when India and Pakistan were last seen opposing each other in a bilateral series. BCCI even opted against sending a team to the Champions Trophy this year. However, the willingness of certain Indian outfits to come to Pakistan for a number of international matches indicates that while the cricketing ties between the two countries are cumbersome, they have not totally collapsed.
