An Indian cricket fan was arrested for wearing a shirt bearing the name of Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi.
21-year-old Ripon Chowdhury was arrested on Sunday in Assam in north-eastern India after complaints by a right-wing group, Hindustan Times reported.
“A complaint was lodged against him by a local right-wing outfit. We arrested him based on the complaint but gave him bail immediately,” a police official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The swashbuckling Pakistani batsman slammed the arrest of the young cricket fan, calling it “shameful”.
“It was shameful to arrest a fan for wearing my shirt.
“Such incidents don’t suit civilised people,” he told AFP.
Cricket has often borne the brunt of the troubled relationship India and Pakistan have shared. Cricketing ties between the two nations have been suspended due to what India calls “terror emanating from across the border”.
However, 36-year-old Afridi says the love of cricket can’t be confined in geographical boundaries.
“Sports and politics should be kept apart and such incidents go against the principles of sportsmanship,” he says.
In January, a 22-year-old Pakistani fan was arrested for waving the flag of India after his idol Virat Kohli struck a match-winning knock against Australia
Shahid Afridi himself had courted trouble in Pakistan when said he got “more love” in India than he did in Pakistan, ahead of a crucial clash in the World Twenty20 in March.
For more news and updates, follow SBS Punjabi on .
