Chandigarh Congress has urged the Union Government not to give clearance to the proposed India-Pakistan matches during the upcoming Cricket Asia Cup in September, as the terror and the sports cannot go together.
Expressing deep concern at the media reports to the effect that the Board of Control for Cricket in India has agreed to hold India-Pakistan Cricket matches during Asia Cup tournament at a neutral venue, Rajiv Sharma, the Chief Spokesperson of Chandigarh Congress stated that the people of Chandigarh and India are extremely upset over this unwarranted agreement to resume cricket ties with Pakistan.
The Congress spokesperson said that on the one hand, the operation Sindoor initiated to teach Pakisan a lesson for its acts of terror has not been called off, on the other hand, the Cricket Boards of both the countries have decided to foster friendly sporting relations with each other. Expressing his anguish that not a single killer of Pahalgam has been nabbed so far, the Congress spokesperson stated that in such circumstances, India can not play cricket matches with Pakistan. He expressed concern that during the match, a huge amount of money invested by Indian sponsors will go to the coffers of the bankrupt Pakistani Cricket Board, which could be used to perpetrate further terror attacks in India. He warned the BCCI that it must not do anything that increases the capacity of Pakistan to hit our country.
Further, the Congress spokesperson questioned the rationale of going to a neutral venue in order to please Pakistan, when India already possesses the right to host all matches.
Stating that the decision of Indian Cricket Board to hold matches with Pakistan amounts to an insult to the self-respect of the people of Chandigarh and India, he urged the local Member of Parliament Manish Tewari to raise this issue in the Parliament.
The Congress Spokesperson condemned the President and other office bearers of the UT Cricket Association Chandigarh for keeping mum on this matter of National interest and added that their silence shows that they have no hesitation in compromising national dignity and self respect for petty gains.
