Demands for New Delhi to cut cricketing ties with neighbor intensify after Indian officers killed in encounter with terrorists

A movement is gaining steam in India to suspend cricketing ties with Pakistan, in the aftermath of the killing of at least three Indian officers in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir region. The clamor comes just days after India trounced Pakistan in a highly-anticipated Asia Cup cricket match in Sri Lanka.

Two Indian Army officers and one from Jammu and Kashmir Police were killed in gunfire exchange with terrorists, after a joint police-army team launched a counter-insurgency operation at Garol village in Kokernag, in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, police said on Wednesday. Another officer wounded in the same attack later succumbed to his injuries. 

According to India Today, the Resistance Front, an offshoot of radical terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba, admitted responsibility for the attack, a retaliation for the killing of its commander Riyaz Ahmed. 

Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday said India will not play any bilateral cricket matches with Pakistan unless the latter stops cross-border terrorism. His remarks came in the wake of national outrage over the attack, with many taking to social media to urge the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to stop cricket matches with Pakistan.

“The BCCI decided long ago that it will not play any bilateral matches with Pakistan until they stop terrorism. We will not resume our cricketing ties with Pakistan unless they stop carrying out attacks across the border, or infiltration incidents,” Thakur, a former BCCI president, told media. 

Since 2013, the two cricket-crazy neighbors have only faced each other on the field during global events hosted by the International Cricket Council (ICC). 

Retired Indian army Major Pawan Kumar posted a picture of colonel Manpreet Singh, who was killed in the attack, on X (formerly Twitter) saying India should “immediately stop all extracurricular activities with Pakistan.” 

Remember this face who got killed in action fighting against the Pakistani sponsored terrorists.

Remember this face once when you enjoy the next match with Pakistan

Remember his family when you say that all Pakistanis are not terrorists

To hell with @imVkohli
and his fans… pic.twitter.com/5IPFuXHabp

— Major Pawan Kumar, Shaurya Chakra (Retd)

Source: RT - Daily news