Before former Pakistani cricketer Danish Kaneria pointedly addressed questions swirling on his purported desire for Indian citizenship on Saturday, he made a series posts on X praising the RSS, parent body India's ruling BJP, over the past week.
On Dussehra day, Kaneria — one of a handful of Hindus to have represented Pakistan in cricket or any sport — wished for the world to have more organisations like the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).
The former leg-spinner said the Sangh is “dedicated to social service without seeking recognition”. “No caste, no religion, no boundaries, just service. I salute every volunteer carrying this mission forward. #RSS100Years,” his post read.
He followed this up with posts attacking those considered opposed to the RSS-BJP. He taunted fact-checker Mohammed Zubair of AltNews for seeking donations for the portal. He re-shared a post by the handle ‘Friends of RSS’ that spoke about lawyer Indira Jaising and her questioning the release of a commemorative coin carrying an image of the ‘Bharat Mata’ and RSS volunteers.
{{/usCountry}}He followed this up with posts attacking those considered opposed to the RSS-BJP. He taunted fact-checker Mohammed Zubair of AltNews for seeking donations for the portal. He re-shared a post by the handle ‘Friends of RSS’ that spoke about lawyer Indira Jaising and her questioning the release of a commemorative coin carrying an image of the ‘Bharat Mata’ and RSS volunteers.
{{/usCountry}}“The government should not care about pseudo secularists and must focus on empowering RSS and its volunteers,” Kaneria wrote, apparently addressing PM Narendra Modi's government.
During the row over Team India's refusal to accept the trophy from Pakistan minister Mohsin Naqvi after defeating Pakistan in the Asia Cup final, Kaneria even posted a photo of a television set covered with a metal net, in a jibe at the popular meme that Pakistanis break TVs after losing to India.
He has in the past targeted former captain Shahid Afridi and others over alleged discrimination, and praised PM Modi over hos governance and leadership.
Kaneria, who played 61 Tests and 18 ODIs for Pakistan between 2000 and 2010 before being banned for life by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in a spot-fixing case, has denied he ever threw matches. He remains the fourth-highest wicket-taker in Tests for Pakistan, behind fast-bowling legends Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Imran Khan.
As for the Indian citizenship question, he posted on Saturday: “Pakistan may be my Janmabhoomi (birthplace), but Bharat, the land of my ancestors, is my Matrubhumi (motherland). For me, Bharat is like a temple. At present, I have no plans to seek Bharatiya (Indian) citizenship. If in the future someone like me chooses to do so, the CAA is already in place for people like us.”
He was referring to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 which is aimed at Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians who fled Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, over persecution.