Subhechcha Ganguly 
Political tensions have escalated ahead of the Asia Cup clash between India and Pakistan, with opposition parties criticising the Centre for allowing the high-profile match in the wake of the recent Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.
AIMIM chief and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi questioned the government’s priorities, invoking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s past statement that “blood and water cannot flow together.” He asked whether financial gains from cricket outweighed the loss of Indian lives. “How much money will the BCCI get from one cricket match—₹2,000 crore, ₹3,000 crore? Is the value of money more than the lives of our 26 citizens?” Owaisi said, pledging continued support for the victims’ families.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray announced ‘Sindoor protests’ across Maharashtra, urging citizens to boycott the match. “Till the time terror does not stop, we shouldn’t maintain any relations with Pakistan. This cricket match is an insult to national sentiments,” he said, adding that party women workers would collect sindoor (vermilion) and send it to the Prime Minister’s Office.
In Delhi, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj led a protest where party workers burned an effigy symbolising Pakistani players. Calling the match a “gross humiliation” of Pahalgam victims’ families, he said, “Pakistan’s cricket players mock our widows in such a dirty, disgusting way, and yet we play cricket with them. Shame on the BJP government.”
Congress MP Imran Masood also criticised the Centre, alleging that the government was prioritising profits over national pain. “While India-Pakistan matches bring excitement and tickets sell at high prices, no one is thinking of the sisters who lost their husbands. Their lives were shattered, and yet the government is busy making money from cricket. This is shameful,” he said.
With the opposition united in condemnation, the Asia Cup encounter has become not just a sporting spectacle but a fresh flashpoint in the political debate over India’s relations with Pakistan.
