Zainab Abbas worked as part of the ICC World Cup Digital and Broadcast team. Photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
A Pakistani broadcaster has quit her role covering the Cricket World Cup in India amid a storm caused by alleged «derogatory» historical posts on social media.
Aside from the national team itself, Zainab Abbas was one of the few Pakistanis who were issued visas to enter India for the tournament as she was part of the International Cricket Council (ICC) digital and broadcast team. She arrived in India last week and spoke about Pakistan's match against the Netherlands on Friday.
But she left the country on Monday, with some local media saying she had been forced to leave the country. The ICC said she explained her departure for “personal reasons.” Abbas has been contacted for comment.
The day before, lawyer Vineet Jindal, a Delhi-based lawyer, filed a police complaint and wrote to Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and son of Amit Shah, India's home minister, about activities on social networks. Abbas posted this message years ago and she faced backlash online.
Abbas allegedly posted “derogatory and provocative” tweets ridiculing India and the Hindu religion. The complaint also cites a tweet from Abbas's official Twitter account about Kashmir's right to self-determination.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, with both countries claiming it in its entirety. India and Pakistan have tense relations and have fought three wars since they became independent states in 1947.
In cricket, despite being the sport's biggest rivalry, the two countries now only meet in tournaments such as the World Cup and have not played a Test match since 2007. They are scheduled to meet on Saturday in Ahmedabad at the stadium named after Cricket. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India.
Pakistanis are finding it difficult to obtain visas to enter India for the World Cup. The team's visas were issued just a day before they left for India last month.
On Monday, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Zaka Ashraf expressed «serious concern and alarm» over the continued delays in issuing visas to fans and media. The board has written to the ICC in this regard.
“The PCB is extremely disappointed that Pakistani journalists and fans continue to face uncertainty regarding obtaining an Indian visa to cover Pakistani games at the 2023 ICC World Cup. «, the board said in a statement. «In the meantime, the PCB has once again reminded the ICC and BCCI of their respective obligations.
“The PCB has also taken serious notice of reports of security threats in the Indian media and has asked the government to assess the safety of players in India. The welfare and safety of the Pakistani team was of paramount importance.»
Ehsan Mani, former PCB chairman and ICC president, said: «Any country that hosts an ICC event signs an agreement to host the event. This clearly indicates that the host country will make it easier for the team, officials, journalists and fans to obtain visas. The ICC should have been satisfied before the event that the visas had been issued. Between 2019 and 2021, I mentioned at both BCCI and ICC board meetings that visa issuance needs to be simplified. Both promised that there would be no problem with this.
“This is an ICC event and they should have made sure that all this was resolved before the World Cup began.”
Some of them included those blocked include BBC correspondent Aatif Nawaz, who was born in Britain but is of Pakistani origin, and ESPNcricinfo's Osman Samiuddin, who lives in London.
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