Pak condemns excesses on Kashmiri’s celebrating its cricket win
Pakistan on Thursday condemned the thrashing of people in south Kashmir for “celebrating’ Pakistan win in ICC champions trophy in England while the PDP slammed Hurriyat (M) chairman, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, politicizing the cricket match.
“Indian forces may be brutally beating up Kashmiris for celebrating Pakistan Cricket Team’s win in the semi final as they did after Pakistan won on 12 June at Cardiff. Indian Forces broke into shops and looted goods to punish Kashmiris celebrating Pakistan’s victory,” Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said on Thursday.
The reaction came during the weekly routine press briefing of Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria in the capital on Thursday. He also welcomed the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer for mediation between India and Pakistan in resolving ongoing tension between the two countries.
The prime minister had met the Russian president in Kazakhstan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held in Kazakhstan earlier this month, the report said.
Meanwhile the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday asserted that more attention should be given to Kashmiris who support and aspire to become Indian cricketers rather than to “separatists like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq”.
The PDP`s reaction was on Mirwaiz`s tweet, wherein, he congratulated Pakistan for entering the finals of the champions trophy after defeating England by eight wickets in the semi-final on Wednesday.
PDP leader Waheed Ur Rehman Parra told a news agency that victory of any cricket team shouldn`t be used for petty politics. He cited the example of Kashmiri cricketer Pevez Rasool, who plays international cricket for India.
“I think the people, who follow the Indian cricket team, see the players as their role models. And, you have cricketers like Pervez Rasool. There is a Pervez Rasool in every Kashmiri village. We just need to explore that and should not really fall into the statement of politics,” said Parra.
He lamented that the “celebrations” of people like Mirwaiz become news but not of those who celebrate India`s victory. “There is no offence to such celebrations (Mirwaiz`s), but the problem is that the people who celebrate for the country are not getting acknowledgement across the country,” said the PDP leader.
“As we were finishing taraweeh, could hear the fire crackers bursting, well played team #Paksitan. Best of luck for the finals! (sic)”. Mirwaiz tweeted after the Pakistan defeated England in the first semi-final match of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy.
KV Correspondent
