'Shouldn't Be Mixed Up…': Karti Chidambaram's Googly As Congress Opposes India-Pak Match

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju defended the government amid intense criticism and said it was not a bilateral game between India and Pakistan. (PTI file photo)

Amid nationwide outrage over the India-Pakistan match during the ongoing Asia Cup, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram on Monday said that sports and politics should not be mixed up, a remark different from the stance of his party, which has vehemently questioned the contest in the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack.

“I personally believe that sports and politics should not be mixed up. We don’t have the right to choose our opponents or the teams we play against in tournaments. Once we enter a tournament, we are obligated to play whoever we are drawn against. This holds true not just for cricket but all sports,” he said when asked to comment on Indian cricketers refusing to shake hands with Pakistani cricketers during the match.

A majority of opposition parties have hit out against the BJP-led government for allowing BCCI to go ahead with India versus Pakistan game in Dubai, nearly five months after Pakistani terrorists killed 26 people, mostly Hindus, in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.

The opposition wanted the Indian team to boycott, citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation after Operation Sindoor, in which he said that terror and talks cannot go together.

India defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in the group stage of the Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday. After the game, a controversy erupted as the Surya Kumar-led Indian team refused to shake hands with Pakistani players.

Earlier, Congress MP KC Venugopal questioned the BJP government about the India-Pakistan match, saying those who talk about patriotism have to respond to all these issues. “Whenever Rahul Gandhi discusses China in parliament, they say that Rahul Gandhi is China’s man. Now our own prime minister is going to China and talking with them, so there is no problem at all. The BJP people are basically doing false narratives on all these things. They have to reply to all these things. BJP is not interested in doing welfare for the people. They are only interested in dividing the people. This is what they are doing everywhere,” he said.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju defended the government amid intense criticism and said it was not a bilateral game between India and Pakistan.

“If India does not play in the Asia Cup, then India will be out. The Olympics and the Asia Cup are not for Pakistan; it is for the whole world. India has not played a match against Pakistan. No bilateral has been played in Pakistan. Pakistan has not been invited separately. If we do not go to the Olympics because of our enmity with a country, who will suffer the loss? So, this has to be understood. The sentiment is right, but there should be rational thinking behind the sentiment. India is not playing a bilateral match with Pakistan separately, but tournaments like the Olympics, Asian Games, Asian Championship, World Cup, and Asia Cup are multi-national, multi-lateral, all nations play together, there is no separate game between Pakistan and India,” he added.