Images capturing the scenes at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium, where fervent chants of religious slogans were raised, are rapidly circulating across social media. Numerous observers assert that the crowd's disposition took a hostile turn during the India-Pakistan clash in the ICC Men's World Cup held last Saturday.
"This was unbecoming of the crowd. They heckled the Pakistani player. Raising 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans in unison as Rizwan walked back to the pavilion after his wicket fell was uncalled for. Are we even a sporting nation anymore? Why are we bringing religion into everything?" some observers are asking.
But the majority of Indians don't seem to have any issue with the chants. That's because Team Pakistan has made its anti-Hindu bias open on several occasions in the past. It was Pakistan that started giving communal colours to the India-Pak clashes.
In 1989, Pakistani crowds during a match held a banner that said that they would be protesting the construction of a Ram Mandir at the Babri Masjid site. Pakistani cricketer Saeed Anwar was quoted as saying that the "Hindu Modi was possessed by Satan but when he stopped for Azan, the Satan ran away."
Pakistani players call themselves Mujahids, a religious term. In the past, they have made pro-Azad Kashmir comments and even mocked Indian soldiers.
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