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‘Problem has always been with bilateral matches’: Omar Abdullah on India-Pak match row
Demands to boycott cricket ties with Pakistan have intensified since the 22 April Pahalgam attack.
Amid growing calls to boycott the upcoming India-Pakistan cricket match in the Asia Cup 2025, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday said that India’s opposition has historically been to bilateral cricketing ties, not multilateral tournaments.
“Our problem has always been with bilateral cricket matches, and I don't think we have ever had a problem with the multilateral part of large tournaments... You can't wish away what happens,” Omar Abdullah said in a briefing, according to ANI.
"My part of the country has been the direct victim... We all saw what happened in Pahalgam. These are real concerns that we have," he added.
Demands to boycott cricket ties with Pakistan have intensified since the 22 April Pahalgam attack, which claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly tourists, were gunned down by terrorists.
According to the government’s new sports policy, India will not play bilateral contests against Pakistan but will continue to face them in multilateral tournaments such as the ongoin Asia Cup and other ICC events.
Oppn slams govt, BCCI
Several opposition parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiv Sena (UBT), and others, have criticised the central government and the BCCI over the India-Pakistan Asia Cup cricket match, scheduled for September 14.
Earlier today, Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray announced that his party will organise protests across Maharashtra against the match between India and Pakistan.
Thackeray said boycotting the Asia Cup match between the two countries, scheduled for Sunday, is an opportunity to convey to the world our stance on terrorism.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi strongly opposed the upcoming India-Pakistan cricket match.
“…We had also resolved to stop all dialogue and trade with Pakistan till they work towards eradicating terror. Now this cricket match has been announced. Despite repeated requests by me and a number of citizens of the country, it is happening,” she said.
The Aam Aadmi Party's Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj has also accused the Centre of "humiliating" the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.
"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, according to PTI.
He also warned that his party workers would “expose” clubs, pubs and restaurants screening the match, "so that people stop going to these outlets”.
BJP on India-Pak match
Earlier today, BJP MP Anurag Thakur said that participation in multinational tournaments organised by the ACC or ICC is a "compulsion" for nations, according to ANI.
He also underlined that India does not play bilateral tournaments with Pakistan and will continue to avoid them until terrorist attacks on the country stop.
