A heated controversy has erupted in India over the upcoming Asia Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan, scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 14. Widespread protests from opposition parties and victims’ families have called for a complete boycott of the match, arguing that cricketing ties should not exist with a nation that sponsors terrorism.
The outrage stems from the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 people, most of them tourists. Aishanya Dwivedi, the widow of Kanpur businessman Shubham Dwivedi who was killed in the attack, made a poignant and emotional appeal to the public to boycott the match. Speaking to the press, she described the decision as “deeply insensitive” and accused the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of disregarding the sentiments of the victims’ families. “Their martyrdom holds no value for the BCCI. Perhaps because none of their own were lost,” she said.
The call for a boycott has been amplified by political leaders. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray announced a “Sindoor” protest across Maharashtra, arguing that boycotting the match is a crucial way to convey India’s stance on terrorism to the world. “Till the time terror does not stop, we shouldn’t maintain any relations with Pakistan,” he said, targeting the BJP government by asking if they would now declare that “Operation Sindoor”—a retaliatory military operation against terror camps—has been stopped.
Similarly, former Delhi minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj joined the protests in the national capital, where he and party workers burned an effigy symbolizing Pakistani players. He called the decision to play a “gross humiliation of our women who lost their husbands in the Pahalgam attack,” referencing a social media post allegedly shared by Pakistani cricketers that mocked the attack’s victims.
While the opposition has been unified in its criticism, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and other BJP allies have defended the decision to play. Naresh Mhaske, an MP from the Shinde Sena, stated that Thackeray “has no moral right to oppose the match” and that playing in a multilateral tournament is a “compulsion” under international sports policies. Similarly, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar noted that while sentiments may differ, the decision was made at the “appropriate forum.”
Despite the widespread criticism and a plea to stop the match being filed in the Supreme Court, the fixture is set to go ahead as scheduled on Sunday. The Supreme Court declined to hear the plea on an urgent basis.