BJP protests for removal of Pak cricketers’ photos

The BJP staged a protest demonstration on Saturday in front of the iconic Eden Gardens cricket stadium in Kolkata demanding that the photographs of Pakistani cricketers be immediately removed from the stadium.

The protest was carried out by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) the youth wing of BJP and about 40 protesters were arrested.

The BJYM members wanted to meet the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal and former captain of the Indian Cricket Team Sourav Ganguly and give him a letter demanding the removal of photographs of Pakistani cricketers such as the current Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, Rameez Raja and Wasim Akram from the stadium in the wake of attack on CRPF jawans in Jammu and Kashmir.

The protesters, who took out a procession from the Babu Ghat area to the Eden Gardens in central Kolkata, were intercepted by a large police contingent near the stadium and were detained following a scuffle.

While the Kolkata Police officials said that about 40 BJYM members were arrested, state BJP leadership claimed that 63 protesters were arrested.

The development comes a day after state BJP president Dilip Ghosh threatened to launch an agitation if the photos of the Pakistani cricketers were mot removed from Eden Gardens.

Ghosh on Friday said that there is no need to keep the photos of Pakistani cricketers at Eden Gardens when Pakistan is getting involved in anti-India activities.