ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has urged India to encourage Kashmiri players and help them excel at cricket, whether they belonged to Pakistan’s Azad Kashmir region or the part of the disputed area administered by India, local media reported on Tuesday.
Last week, former South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs tweeted that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had warned him against taking part in the Kashmir Premier League which has been sanctioned by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
The KPL is scheduled to start from August 6 in Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir and will be contested by six teams captained by Pakistan’s current and former cricketers – Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim.
Kashmiri players, whether from Azad Kashmir or Indian-administered Kashmir, “should be encouraged to excel,” Qureshi said while talking to the media at Parliament House, as reported by Geo News. “Kashmiris take a lot of interest in cricket. They are waiting for KPL to take place. India should reconsider its stance, as this attitude will benefit nothing but cause disrepute to the country.”
Qureshi called upon Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrange a cricketing event similar to KPL in the part of Kashmir that is administered by India.
“Who stopped you from doing so?” he said, adding that KPL should be streamed on television screens in Srinagar.
The two nuclear-armed neighbors both control parts of Kashmir but claim it in full. In 2019, India withdrew Indian-ruled Kashmir’s autonomy in order to tighten its grip over the territory, sparking outrage in Pakistan, the downgrading of diplomatic ties and a suspension of bilateral trade.
Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri has also condemned India for what he described as the “politicization of cricket”.
“Depriving young Kashmiri players of the opportunity to share dressing room with big names in cricket is unfortunate and regrettable,” Chaudhri said on Twitter last week.
India’s politicisation of Cricket cannot be condemned enough. Depriving young Kashmiri players of the opportunity to share dressing room with big names in is unfortunate and regrettable.@hershybru @kpl_20 https://t.co/uOgRuMXqln
— Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri (@Zhchaudhri) July 31, 2021
The Pakistan Cricket Board has also expressed its displeasure over reports BCCI had called multiple ICC members and forced them to withdraw their retired cricketers from the Kashmir Premier League.
“PCB believes the BCCI has once again breached international norms and the spirit of the gentleman’s game by interfering in internal affairs of the ICC Members as the KPL has been approved by the PCB,” PCB statement read.
PCB Statement
More details: https://t.co/drfpeeMq99 pic.twitter.com/bGytXWp064— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) July 31, 2021
PCB has said it would raise the matter at the appropriate ICC forum and “also reserves the right to take any further action that is available to us within the ICC charter.”
