Published Nov 13, 2022 | 7:41 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 13, 2022 | 8:35 PM
Karnataka police arrested four people, including two minors, for cheering Pakistan's victory against New Zealand. (Creative Commons)
England beat Pakistan by five wickets in Melbourne on Sunday to win the T20 Cricket World Cup. If you were among Indians who rooted for Pakistan to win, you could have very well ended in jail, at least going by what happened in Karnataka last week.
Four coffee plantation workers — two of them minors — were booked by the Karnataka police for cheering for Pakistan last week when the cricket team from India’s neighbouring country beat New Zealand.
The four youngsters, all hailing from Assam, were booked and taken into custody over charges of “promoting enmity between groups” for celebrating Pakistan’s win on 9 November.
The very next day, a complaint was filed against the labourers who were immediately arrested. The two adults were produced before a magistrate who remanded them to judicial custody. The two minors were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board and were remanded to the state-run boys’ remand home.
When Ajmal Ali (24), Ahiluddi (19), and two minors, workers at a coffee estate in Balehonnur of Koppa taluk in Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka, sat down at a local shop to watch Pakistan versus New Zealand T20 match on 9 November, little did they know that cheering for another country’s cricket team would land them in jail.
“All the four hail from Darrang district of Assam and lived at the plantation workers’ line houses in the estate,” a senior police officer from Balehonnur police station told South First.
“Around 6.30 pm when Pakistan won the match, the four youths who were walking back to their houses, started shouting and sloganeering in support of Pakistan. It was a slightly crowded suburban area where the locals observed the youths and complained to the estate manager Narayanmurthy,” the police officer added.
On 10 November 10, Narayanmurthy approached the jurisdictional Balehonnur police station and filed a complaint against the youths. The police registered an FIR booking the accused under sections of the IPC for creating enmity between two groups and took into custody all four of them.
“We have registered a case and since two were juveniles, we produced them before the JJ Board, while the two adults were arrested and sent to judicial custody,” Superintendent of Police, Chikkamagalur, Uma Prashanth told the South First.
“We had also inquired if the complainant — the estate manager — Narayanmurthy had any kind of personal or professional dispute on these youths working at the coffee plantation, but there was no dispute as such and the complaint seemed genuine as these youths had shouted slogans — “Pakistan Zindabad” — and created a ruckus soon after Pakistan won the match.
Karnataka police action on the four youths has sparked off a debate on why merely cheering for another country’s cricket team should be considered a criminal offence.
The arguments, conducted mostly on social media, ranged from those supporting the right of the four to support Pakistan, to those who were unforgiving over support extended to what they called an “enemy country”.
“In Karnataka, India, four Muslim minors have been arrested for cheering for Pakistan after its victory over New Zealand in a cricket match. In which Constitution is cheering for a foreign country’s cricket team a crime,” asked one Netizen.
To which, another netizen replied: “Everything is not written in Constitution. Where is it written that Muslim girls can wear head scarf in schools?”
“Any self-respecting, nationalist, patriotic Indian would never cheer for Pakistan. Pakistan is not just any other country, India and Pak have a history,” said another.
There was support for the arrested four as wee, with one netizen declaring that he would “cheer for Pakistan to win against England in their own game”.
Another wrote: “By this logic, all the Indians who migrated to Australia or England and took citizenship there… and still cheer for India and fill up stadia… should be charged with treason.”
“Cheer for Pakistan vs India, yes ..that’s bad… but cheer for Pakistan against any other country? Or do you want people to stop watching matches without India in it, altogether? Its human nature to support 1 team while watching sports, no one really watches just for the fun of it,” one tweeted.
In Karnataka, India, 4 Muslim Minors have been arrested for cheering for Pakistan after its victory over New Zealand in a cricket match. In which constitution cheering for a foreign country’s cricket team is a crime?
— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) November 12, 2022
