New Delhi: India’s sporting fraternity oscillated between grief and rage as it joined the nation in condemning the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam with some demanding that the country should cut all sports ties with Pakistan.
On Tuesday, terrorists opened fire at a prime tourist location in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam, killing at least 26 civilians and injuring several others. The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow group of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
“And this is exactly why I say – you don’t play cricket with Pakistan. Not now. Not ever. When BCCI or the government refused to send India to the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, some had the audacity to say, ‘Oh, but sport should rise above politics’,” former India cricketer Shreevats Goswami said in a strongly-worded post.
While India has not played bilateral cricket with Pakistan since 2012–13, and the BCCI declined to send its team for the Champions Trophy earlier this year, other Indian teams have continued to travel to Pakistan for international events.
Goswami, who had recently visited Pahalgam, said he had sensed hope and peace returning to the valley. “And now… this bloodshed again. It breaks something inside you. It makes you question how many more times we’re expected to stay silent, stay “sporting,” while our people die. No more. Not this time,” he added.
An “outraged” Olympic bronze medal-winning boxer and ruling BJP member Vijender Singh also called for firm “action”. “Our brave soldiers will definitely give a befitting reply to this cowardly attack in the coming times. In the presence of the brave sons of Mother India, the plans of those who want to disturb the peace in Jammu and Kashmir will never succeed,” he asserted.