Udhayanidhi Stalin condemns 'Jai Shri Ram' chants at Pak player
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Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s Sports and Youth Affairs minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) senior leader Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sunday condemned the 'Jai Shri Ram' chanting incident during the India- Pakistan World Cup cricket match at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday and termed the Indian fans' behaviour as “unacceptable”.
The minister, who is also the son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, was referring to the crowd booing and chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' at Pakistan wicket-keeper-batsman Muhammad Rizwan when he was returning to the pavilion after he was dismissed for 49 runs in the match.
“India is renowned for its sportsmanship and hospitality. However, the treatment meted out to Pakistan players at Narendra Modi stadium 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 unacceptable,” he said in a post on X.
In support of Udhayanidhi’s statement, several cricket fans from Tamil Nadu have called for showering love and respect to the Pakistan cricket team who are playing in Chepauk in the next ten days.
A fan named Lakshmi in her Facebook post said, “Pakistan is playing two matches in Chepauk in the next 10 days and we should compensate for what Babar Azam and team endured at Ahmedabad with love and care. Sports is for universal brotherhood and some people are making it a place for hate-mongering which is unacceptable.”
The fans sang ‘Vande Mataram’ after the Indian team defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in a highly one-sided contest on Saturday at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.
Fans were also booing Pakistan captain and one of the best batsmen in the world, Babar Azam when he went out for toss along with Rohit Sharma.
However, the stadium also witnessed a gesture of India’s star batsman, Virat Kohli gifting his signed Indian jersey to the Pakistan captain Babar Azam.
Earlier this year, India’s fast bowler Mohammed Shami also faced a similar incident, when fans chanted "Jai Shri Ram" during a Test match between Australia and India.
With inputs from IANS