• By Soumyaroop Mukherjee
  • Sun, 14 Sep 2025 02:31 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND
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India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2025: The cricket match between India and Pakistan, set to be held in Dubai on Sunday, has led to a political tussle between the Opposition and the ruling party. In this politically charged environment, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi hit out against the BJP-led government for allowing team India to play against Pakistan in the ongoing tournament. 

Owaisi slammed the government, saying that “monetary gains” have been prioritised over “human lives” lost in the Pahalgam attack. He said, "My question to the Chief Minister of Assam, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, and all of them is that do you not have the power to refuse to play a cricket match against Pakistan, which asked for the religion of our 26 citizens in Pahalgam and shot them?"

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During his public address, Owaisi asked whether the revenue that the BCCI will earn from the match is more valuable than the lives lost. "We ask the Prime Minister, when you said that blood and water cannot flow together, dialogue and terrorism cannot happen together, then how much money will the BCCI get from one cricket match, Rs 2000 crore, Rs 3000 crore? Is the value of money more than the lives of our 26 citizens?" he said.

"We stood with those 26 citizens yesterday as well, we stand with them today, and we will stand with them tomorrow as well," he added.

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Calls For Boycott Of India-Pakistan Match

Several opposition leaders, including AAP's Saurabh Bhardwaj and Shiv Sena UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, have called for boycotting the cricket match. Congress leader Abhishek Dutt called for the cancellation of the India-Pakistan match. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray asked, "How can war and cricket be at the same time? They have made a business out of patriotism. They just want money." 

The families of the Pahalgam terror attack victims have also reportedly called for a boycott of the match.

BJP On IND vs PAK Asia Cup 2025

Responding to the criticisms, BJP leaders have come out defending the stance of the government, saying that it is ‘not fair’ to oppose the match.

"Matches used to be played even during Congress rule. Their patriotism awakens when a match with Pakistan is played. They have been boycotted in trade. We have to fight Pakistan. We fought them on our land and defeated them. We beat them on their soil in Pakistan. We will defeat them on foreign soil, too, where we will play them. We should not withdraw from the field...Pakistani artists came, performed, and earned money here for years," BJP leader Dilip Ghosh said.

Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that the political tensions between India and Pakistan and the match between the two nations are altogether different and should not be mixed.

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IND vs PAK Asia Cup 2025: Cricket Fans Not Amused 

The Indian cricket fans have mixed opinions over whether the match should happen or not. One cricket fan from Mumbai, Shubham Chavan, told ANI that the "match should not take place".

Asgar Ali, a Cricket enthusiast from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, said, "This match should not be played. Such a big incident took place in our country, but still we are playing a cricket match against them. According to me, we should boycott this completely..."

However, another cricket fan in Delhi, Praveen Kashyap, said, "This is a match which everyone would want to watch...People have a special affinity for sports. Everybody wants to watch the India vs Pakistan match...A few people view sports just as sports..."