India and Pakistan will lock horns at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium for their World Cup tie on 14 October. This is the first time the two arch-rivals are meeting each other in India since 2016. But the presence of the Pakistani team in India and a red carpet welcome accorded in a BJP-ruled state has not gone down well with right wing supporters. Seemingly feeling let down by the BJP, angry supporters of the Hindutva ideology have taken to Twitter to trend #ShameOnBCCI. Prominent among those slamming the BJP and Jay Shah is Major (retd) Gaurav Arya, who’s a known friend of Republic TV founder Arnab Goswami.
What evoked angry reactions from Hindutva supporters was a video, which showed a group of girls dancing to welcome Pakistani cricketers in Ahmedabad. BJP supporters attacked the BJP for its alleged hypocrisy saying the decision to welcome the team from an enemy country was a spectacular U-turn by the Hindutva party on its stand on Pakistan.
A day later, hashtag #ShameOnBCCI trended on X, formerly known as Twitter. One user wrote, “BCCI crossed the limits. Time to Boycott all Indo Pak events & Sponsors. Let us stand with our Soldiers. Let us stand with our Nation. Feeling bad for our soldiers.”
Another user shared a video of Arya, who was seen fuming asking whether the responsibility to fly the flag of patriotism was only left to soldiers since others had no problem in being friends with Pakistan.
BCCI crossed the limits. Time to Boycott all Indo Pak events & Sponsors
Let us stand with our Soldiers
Let us stand with our Nation
Feeling bad for our soldiers 🇮🇳Stop welcoming chutiya Pakistani cricketers#ShameOnBCCI #BoycottBCCI #BoycottIndoPakMatch #PrayForIndia #INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/R232QjDHYx
— Ankit Kumar (@AnkitSharmakr) October 13, 2023
Only the Indian Army is responsible for facing terrorists?
Let us stand with our Soldiers 🫡
Let us stand with our Nation 🇮🇳 #ShameOnBCCI Indian Army #BoycottBCCI #GazaGenocide #BoycottIndoPakMatch #Hamas_is_ISIS #BANvsNZ India vs Pakistan Kane Williamson pic.twitter.com/DkSLMtm6Vp— ✪ भारत_Posts ✪ (@Bharat_Posts) October 13, 2023
Soldier have sacrifice their life on border but #BCCI it’s just joyment#BCCI crossed the limits. Time to Boycott all Indo Pak events & Sponsors
Let us stand with our Soldiers
Let us stand with our Nation #ShameOnBCCI #BoycottBCCI #BoycottIndoPakMatch #PrayForIndia #JayShah pic.twitter.com/XFBmFQzcRe— Nagendra Kumar (@Nagendra845401) October 13, 2023
We forgot about the sacrifices of our soldiers because the persons who lose their lives during our protection is not from our families. So Bcci plz stop this and donate all the money of this program to martyrs family. #INDvPAK match can happen without any ceremony. #ShameOnBCCI pic.twitter.com/MKOSb6neXz
— Navneet thakur (@nkt3812) October 13, 2023
TOTALLY AGREE WITH @kaankit SIR#ShameOnBCCI pic.twitter.com/W1B9oPBP6u
— ZER0_T0LERANCE (@ZER0_T0LARENCE) October 13, 2023
#ShameOnBCCI
BCCI became a joke🤢 pic.twitter.com/IbTsqAbggU— Kadak (@kadak_chai_) October 13, 2023
@BCCI @JayShah
WHY SPECIAL PROGRAM FOR IND VS PAK WHY THEY ARE GETTING SO MUCH ATTENTION FROM YOU THEY ARE JUST ENEMY AND NOTHING.BALL AND BULLET CANNOT MOVE TOGETHER.@sarthakbhagat45 👍🏻👏🏻#ShameOnBCCI #BoycottBCCI #BoycottIndoPakMatchpic.twitter.com/rpvosvHViq
— Ayush (@_ayush95) October 13, 2023
The BCCI has made an elaborate arrangement for entertainment programme ahead of the match. Several top artists including Shankar Mahadevan have been roped in to perform at the stadium before the match. Amitabh Bachchan and Arijit Singh too are reported to have been invited for the event.