Pakistani Journalist Zainab Abbas Sent Away From India?
Pakistani sports journalist Zainab Abbas left India amid controversy over her past tweets, while India-Pakistan cricket relations have been historically contentious.
Everyone these days is excited about the Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. India is the host country and people from across the world are coming to watch these matches. Not just the audience but even journalists from around the world have come to India to cover the tournament. Pakistani sports journalist Zainab Abbas was associated with the digital team of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and was scheduled to cover the ICC World Cup 2023 in India. Zainab was also expected to travel to all the venues where the Pakistan cricket team is scheduled to play. She is not the only Pakistani who came to India to cover the tournament. Zainab was present in Pakistan’s opening tournament against Netherlands on 6th October 2023 in Hyderabad. However, she left Hyderabad for Dubai on 9th October 2023. It is being reported that she was deported from India for her past tweets against India and Hindus which seem to be the reason behind her deportation. She had tweeted insulting the Hindu religion and Goddess Maa Kaali. Incident came to light when a lawyer, Vineet Jindal registered a complaint against Zainab Abbas over her tweet.
In his complaint, Vineet Jindal tagged BCCI and Home Ministry and asked to remove Zainab Abbas as the presenter at the ICC World Cup 2023 for her derogatory and provocative posts against India and Hindu religion. He also wrote, “Athiti devo bhava’ only for those who respect our country & Hindu Dharma but Anti Bharatiya are not welcome on Our Land." While some reports say she was deported from India, some inform that she left the country over security concerns or personal reasons. An ICC spokesperson said in an official statement, “Zainab has not been deported, she has left for personal reasons.” In her latest post on X (Twitter), Zainab said, "There was always intrigue on what lies on the other side, more cultural similarities than differences, rivals on the field but friends off the field, the same language & love for art & a country with a billion people, here to represent, to create content & bring in expertise from the best in the business. Humbled to be presenting in India at the Cricket WC2023 for the ICC again, a journey away from home of 6 weeks starts now." With this tweet, many are supporting her and slamming ICC for her deportation. In support of India, Pakistani players also mentioned that they had received a very warm welcome at the Hyderabad airport and things had gone very smoothly. India - Pakistan cricket matches are always embroiled in controversies. Earlier the Asia cup was hosted by Pakistan.
However, the BCCI had refused to send our players to Pakistan. Jay Shah who is the head of BCCI head and also the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) said that members, media, players everyone was hesitant to come to Pakistan for the entire tournament due to concerns related to the security and economic situation in the country. At that time Pakistan had said that if India didn’t come to Pakistan to play in the Asia cup, they will not come to India for the world cup. However, the BCCI was adamant and refused to budge. Pakistan then suggested a hybrid model where some matches were played in Pakistan and some in UAE. But ACC refused to have some matches in UAE. Instead they choose Pakistan and Sri Lanka, despite the rain conditions in the country. Now this controversy about Zainab Abbas. There is always a controversy with India - Pakistan matches.
