During the Asia Cup 2025 match between India and Pakistan on Sunday, Men in Blue won by 7 wickets. However, the victory has stirred political controversy in the backdrop of the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which had claimed the lives of 26 people. Opposition parties and victims' families called for a boycott of the India vs Pakistan match.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray criticised both the ICC chairman Jay Shah and Union Home Minister Amit Shah through a cartoon. The illustration portrayed Amit Shah and Jay Shah, mocking their stance with the caption: “Please get up guys… we have won, Pakistanis have lost!”
Thackeray raised the question in a political cartoon asking, “Who exactly won, and who exactly lost?” In the cartoon, Amit Shah and Jay Shah are shown telling the martyrs of the Pahalgam deadly attack that India has won against Pakistan—highlighting the irony and insensitivity of celebrating a cricket victory amid such tragedy.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena UBT leader and MP Sanjay Raut also hit out at the Centre for allowing the match. Citing Sunil Gavaskar, he claimed that the Indian team played Pakistan only because the government granted permission, not because the players wished to.
Raut said, “If the government had not permitted, Team India would not have played. BJP members are now praising the team for not shaking hands with Pakistani players. Are the people of this country fools? You played against Pakistan on the field, right? People sacrificed their lives for this country, many were martyred, and you call not shaking hands a form of resistance? Was this really your answer to the Pahalgam attack?”