Women members of Shiv Sena (UBT) staged a symbolic protest in Mumbai on Sunday by holding ‘sindoor’ demonstrations against India’s participation in the Asia Cup 2025 clash with Pakistan. The protest coincided with the high-profile encounter scheduled in Dubai. Shiv Sena (UBT) had earlier declared that women workers across Maharashtra would demonstrate to express their opposition to the match. On Saturday, party leader Uddhav Thackeray had announced that sindoor would be sent from every household to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a mark of dissent. He reiterated that allowing the match symbolized prioritizing financial gains over patriotic sentiments.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray strongly objected to India facing Pakistan in the tournament, accusing the government of compromising national pride. “Our Prime Minister said blood and water cannot flow together, then how can blood and cricket flow together. How can war and cricket be at the same time? They have done business in patriotism. The business of patriotism is only for money. They are going to play the match tomorrow also because they want all the money they will get from that match,” he said. His statement suggested that the government’s stance contradicted its earlier claims of nationalism.
In a parallel criticism, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the India-Pakistan game. Raising doubts about the decision, Owaisi demanded the government justify how financial revenue from the match could outweigh the cost of human lives. He asked, “My question to the Chief Minister of Assam, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, and all of them is that you don’t have the power to refuse to play a cricket match against Pakistan, which asked for the religion of our 26 citizens in Pahalgam and shot them.” His remarks highlighted the emotional sensitivity of the issue.
Owaisi went further, questioning whether the monetary value generated from the cricketing event was more significant than the lives of 26 innocent citizens who were killed in the Pahalgam terror attack. This criticism gained weight as the Indian national cricket team was set to face Pakistan for the first time in an international contest after the tragic incident and the subsequent Operation Sindoor. Despite widespread appeals from opposition groups demanding a boycott of the match, the central government had given its formal approval. Officials clarified that India would continue to compete in multi-nation tournaments regardless of political tensions.