The row over Sunday’s India-Pakistan Asia Cup cricket match intensified Saturday after Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sharad Koli issued a direct warning to hotel owners and restaurateurs, saying their television screens will be smashed if they show the telecast of the match.
Armed with a cricket bat, Koli said in a video message, “This match is an insult to the blood of our martyrs. If any hotel dares to show it, we will break the screens ourselves. Pakistan has wiped the sindoor off the foreheads of Indian mothers and sisters. If you love this country, do not show the match.”
Koli’s comments come amid mounting opposition from the Uddhav-led Sena to India’s decision to play Pakistan in the Asia Cup, barely months after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.
Party chief Uddhav Thackeray earlier questioned the Centre’s stance, drawing a parallel with the 1980 US boycott of the Moscow Olympics. “If blood and water cannot flow together, how can blood and cricket coexist?” he asked, accusing the BJP government of “trading patriotism for profit”.
The Sena’s women’s wing has also announced plans to collect sindoor from households across Maharashtra Sunday and send it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office as a symbolic protest.
The controversy has added to the frenzy around the match, with the hashtag #BoycottIndPakMatch trending on social media. Former cricketers, retired armed forces personnel and Bollywood celebrities have echoed calls for a boycott.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, however, downplayed the protests, saying, “In a country of 140 crore people, different opinions are bound to exist. The match will go ahead, as the decision has been taken at the appropriate level.”
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The India-Pakistan game will begin at 8 pm Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Suryakumar Yadav will captain India, and Salman Ali Agha will captain Pakistan.
