AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj burns an effigy during a protest against the upcoming Asia Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan, at the party office in New Delhi.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Opposition on Sunday attacked the Narendra Modi government for allowing the Indian cricket team to play Pakistan in the Asia Cup match, claiming that it is "treason" as well as exposing the "misplaced priorities" of the dispensation.
This is the first face-off between India and Pakistan in cricket field after the April 22 terror strike in Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed. A section of parties and cricket fans have been demanding that India should not play cricket and have accused the BCCI of trying to make money.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police denied Shiv Sena (UBT) permission to organise a protest at Jantar Mantar against the India-Pakistan cricket match in Dubai.
While AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal calling it "treason against the country" and that "every Indian is extremely angry", Congress Lok Sabha Deputy Leader and Assam Congress President Gaurav Gogoi alleged that the government has chosen "profit and spectacle" over compassion and sensitivity.
Union Minister M L Khattar has defended the match, saying both issues are different. "As far as the game is concerned, the game has sentiment and players also worked hard for it, so it is not fair to oppose it. That’s why whatever has been decided has been decided thoughtfully," he said.
Gogoi said the decision of the BJP government to go ahead with the India–Pakistan cricket match "exposes its misplaced priorities" as "only a few months ago, innocent civilians lost their lives in the Pahalgam terror attack, and their families continue to bear the pain of that tragedy".
"Yet this government has chosen profit and spectacle over compassion and sensitivity. By treating cricket as separate from the blood that has been shed on our soil, they have shown that money matters more than the suffering of our people," he said.
He said such "indifference" is a "betrayal of national sentiment and a grave insult" to the memory of the victims.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi asked whether the money earned through the match is "more valuable" than the lives of 26 citizens who were killed in the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
"We ask the Prime Minister, when you said that blood and water cannot flow together, dialogue and terrorism cannot happen together, then how much money will the BCCI get from one cricket match, Rs 2000 crore, Rs 3000 crore? Is the value of money more than the lives of our 26 citizens?" he said.
"Boycott the match today. Don’t let the greed of BCCI and spinelessness of the Indian government stop us from standing in solidarity with those who lost their loved ones in Pahalgam," Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said on 'X'.
AAP Rajya Sabha floor leader Sanjay Singh said, "Modi-ji said, Operation Sindoor has not ended yet, it is ongoing. So how is Operation Cricket ongoing?"
A senior police official said the request for the protest was received on Saturday. "As per existing guidelines, applications must be submitted at least 10 days before the date of the programme. Since this condition was not met, the request could not be granted," the official said.
"We respect the law but will continue to voice our concerns through democratic means," Shiv Sena (UBT) Delhi unit head Mangat Ram Munde said as the permission was denied.