Leaders of opposition parties target Centre, BCCI over India-Pak match

New Delhi/Mumbai: On the eve of the India-Pakistan Asia Cup cricket match, several opposition parties on Saturday slammed the BJP-led central government, calling it an insult to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and the Indian soldiers who sacrificed their lives on the borders, with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray announcing 'Sindoor' protests across Maharashtra.

Leaders of the BJP and its allies tried to play down the issue and stressed that India will not play any bilateral series with Pakistan until it stops terrorist activities.

Traditional rivals India and Pakistan will face off in Dubai on Sunday in what will be the first match between the two sides since the military conflict in May, when India launched strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan-controlled territories after 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed in a dastardly terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22.

Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Thackeray said boycotting the match is an opportunity to convey to the world India's stance on terrorism.

"Till the time terror does not stop, we shouldn't maintain any relations with Pakistan," the former Maharashtra chief minister asserted.

Targeting the BJP, he wondered whether the government is going to announce that Operation Sindoor has been stopped, and appealed to patriots not to watch the cricket contest as the wounds of the Pahalgam terror attack are still fresh.

"This cricket match is an insult to national sentiments. Should we be playing cricket with Pakistan while our soldiers sacrifice their lives on the borders?" Thackeray asked.

Thackeray said the Sena (UBT) will hold protests against the match. He said the party's women workers will collect sindoor (vermilion) and send it to the Prime Minister's Office.

"You were saying Pakistan is spreading terror, and now you are playing cricket with the same country. Is Pakistan a terror state or not? Is it our enemy or not? Soldiers are getting martyred, and these people play cricket. This is not good," Thackeray said.

His son Aditya Thackeray targeted the cricket board.

"Is the BCCI so strong that it can defy PM and defence minister? Does the @BCCI not have any shame? Any feelings for those who were killed in that massacre? Or for our Armed Forces?" Aaditya said in a post on X.

The Aam Aadmi Party held a protest in Delhi and said its party workers would “expose” clubs, pubs and restaurants screening the match, "so that people stop going to these outlets”.

“What is the need for the Prime Minister to organise a match with Pakistan? The whole country is saying that this match should not happen. Then why is this match being organised?" AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said in a post in Hindi on X.

"Is this also being done under Trump's pressure? How much will you bow down to Trump?" he said.

Leaders of the Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar) and AIMIM are among those who have criticised the decision to play the match against Pakistan.

AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj, along with party workers, also burnt an effigy symbolising Pakistani players in the national capital "This is a gross humiliation of our women who lost their husbands in the Pahalgam attack, but still our central leadership is going ahead with the India-Pakistan cricket match,” Bharadwaj said during a press conference here.

Later, in a post on X in Hindi, Bharadwaj said, "Pakistan’s cricket players mock our widows in such a dirty, disgusting way, and we will play cricket with them. Shame on the BJP government." Aishanya, the widow of Kanpur businessman Shubham Dwivedi who was killed in the Pahalgam terror attack, appealed to the people to boycott the match.

Speaking to PTI on Saturday, Aishanya described the decision to hold the match as "deeply insensitive" and accused the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of disregarding the sentiments of the victims' families. "Their martyrdom holds no value for the BCCI. Perhaps because none of their own were lost," she said.

Ekanth Shinde-led Shiv Sena, a constituent of the ruling NDA, said Thackeray has no moral right to oppose the match as during the Congress era too, international cricket matches were played between India and Pakistan even when relations were tense.

"Thackeray, who abandoned Hindutva for power and sings praises of Pakistan, cannot suddenly oppose such matches," spokesperson of Eknath Shinde-led Sena and MP Naresh Mhaske told a news conference.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the NCP, said the decision regarding the game has been taken at the appropriate forum but acknowledged there were different opinions on the issue.

"The country has a population of 140 crore. In such a vast country, there are bound to be differences of opinion over the cricket match. Some people may feel since relations between the two countries are strained, there should be no match. At the same time, others may support the game," Pawar told reporters.

BJP leader and former sports minister Anurag Thakur said India has to participate in a multi-national tournament, otherwise the opponent team will score points.

"If India does not play, the team will be out of the tournament. If India skips one match, the opposite team will get the points," he said in Pune and reiterated that India will not play a bilateral series with Pakistan until it stops terrorist activities.