‘Unacceptable’: Politicians react after video shows Rizwan heckled by fans during India-Pakistan clash

PTI, Oct 16, 2023, 8:30 AM IST

Image credit: Reuters Photo

New Delhi: The cricketers from Pakistan have enjoyed the warmth and hospitality ever since they landed in India to compete in the World Cup but a video has surfaced on social media where Mohammed Rizwan was seen getting heckled by a few fans in Ahmedabad with the chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ while he walked back to pavilion during the marquee clash on Saturday.

A group of fans shouted ‘Jai Shri Ram’ (Hail Lord Ram) multiple times when Rizwan was walking back to the pavilion after being dismissed by pacer Jasprit Bumrah.

Rizwan scored 49 runs and Pakistan could put on board only 191, a target which India chased without much fuss to record its eighth straight win over the arch-rivals in World Cups.

Several politicians denounced the act.

DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin posted the video with a comment that such crowd behaviour is “unacceptable”.

“India is renowned for its sportsmanship and hospitality. However, the treatment meted out to Pakistan players at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is unacceptable and a new low. Sports should be a unifying force between countries, fostering true brotherhood. Using it as a tool to spread hatred is condemnable,” he wrote on X.

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale also criticised the fans for heckling Rizwan.

“PM Modi desperately wants India to host the 2036 Olympics. But if this is what BJP has reduced our audiences to – where they heckle a Pakistani player with chants of Jai Shri Ram – massive doubts remain over whether we’re qualified & sporting enough to host ANY international sporting event,” he wrote.

Pakistan players, led by Babar Azam, have received tremendous respect and a warm welcome upon their arrival first in Hyderabad and then in Ahmedabad.