On third October (Tuesday), Australian opener Matthew Hayden and Ramiz Raja exploited the BCCI-backed ICC World Cup 2023 platform to advertise Islam whereas doing commentary in a warm-up recreation. Hayden and Ramiz Raja intentionally missed the unifying potential of sports activities and abused the platform to propagate their particular person non secular ideologies and leverage its wider attain.
Why is that this Commentary between Ramiz Raja and Mathew Hayden overtly selling & glorifying IsIam being allowed??? This is a Cricket World Cup Match not some Religious gathering that such sermons be given pic.twitter.com/U7C3urJQZ6
— Rosy (@rose_k01) October 4, 2023
While commentating, Hayden emphasised that he drastically admires that the Pakistani Cricket unit could be very properly targeted on Islam and it has made them disciplined. The Australian opener additionally burdened that it’s the Islamic lifestyle that provides self-discipline.
-Ramiz Raza and Matthew Hayden selling Islam throughout heat up match of world cup
-Hayden was Batting advisor of Pakistan group throughout 2022 T20 World Cup
-Both are selling private non secular beliefs in commentary funded by ICC which is finally funded by BCCI
-Hopefully… pic.twitter.com/stxjPJkf4L
— BALA (@rightarmleftist) October 4, 2023
Notably, the incident unfolded on third October when Australia and Pakistan performed a warm-up match on the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. While commentating, Ramiz Raja requested Hayden about his expertise of working with the Pakistan cricket group.
To which, Hayden preached that the Islamic lifestyle provides self-discipline which he drastically admired. He added that Pakistani cricket can be very targeted round Islam and it’s the core factor of the Pakistani taking part in facet.
He mentioned, “Well it’s very focused around Islam, which is the central and core thing to this playing unit. And that principle and the way of life leads to great discipline, which I greatly admire. After all, cricket is very much a discipline as well. You have to be committed. You have to be invested, and you have to be consistent.”
Matthew Hayden reveals he was gifted the Quran by Pakistani participant Mohammed Rizwan
It is essential to notice that Matthew Hayden was the coach of the Pakistan cricket group through the T20 World Cup 2021 and T20 World Cup 2022. Back in November 2021, in an interview given to News Corp Australia, Hayden revealed that Pakistani cricketer Muhammad Rizwan gifted him an English model of the Quran.
He said that he was interested in Islam, and when Rizwan got here to find out about his curiosity with respect to Islam, he gifted him an English translation of the Holy Quran. Narrating the incident, he mentioned it was a wonderful second, one which he’ll always remember.
He famous that each of them additionally mentioned Islam and its beliefs at size, and he’s studying the Quran a bit day by day.
Regarding that episode, Hayden mentioned, “It was Rizzy (Mohammad Rizwan) and I have to say it was a beautiful moment I will never forget. I am curious about Islam even though I am a Christian. One follows Christ and the other Muhammad and in a sense never shall meet but he presented me with an English version of the Quran. We sat on the floor for half an hour and talked through it. I am reading a bit of it each day. Rizzy is one of my favourite individuals, a champion human being.”
However, Mohammad Rizwan’s strategy to Matthew Hayden, encouraging him to discover Islam, is only one occasion of a broader development the place Islamic cricketers and commentators notably from Pakistan have repeatedly abused their platform to propagate Islam and proselytisation of non-believers.
Pakistan gamers courting non-Muslims on cricket floor to embrace Islam
Earlier, a video of Pakistani cricketer Ahmed Shehzad pestering Sri Lankan cricketing legend Tilakratne Dilshan to transform to Islam went viral on social media. In a 21-second lengthy video, Shehzad was heard saying, “If you are a non-Muslim and you turn Muslim, no matter whatever you do in your life, straight to heaven.”
Pakistan Cricket Team has 11 maulvis, not 11 cricketers 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/VH9VJcjG30
— Incognito X (@Incognito_jkl) November 4, 2022
In the video, it appears that evidently Dilshan didn’t pay any heed to the feedback of the Pakistani cricketer. However, when the Sri Lankan legend lastly responded (which was not captured by the microphone), Ahmed Shehzad warned, “Then be ready for the (Hell) fire.”
Reflecting on the on-field proselytisation by the Pakistani cricketer, the Twitter consumer wrote, “Pakistan Cricket Team has 11 maulvis (clerics), not 11 cricketers.”
Religious discrimination confronted by non-Muslims in Pakistan
Apart from proselytisation, Pakistani cricketers are notorious for discriminating on the idea of the non secular beliefs of different cricketers. In December 2019, former tempo bowler Shoaib Akhtar uncovered Pakistan’s extremism towards Hindus. In a chat present, Akhtar revealed how his teammates ill-treated ex-cricketer Danish Prabha Shanker Kaneria for being a Hindu.
Following Akhtar’s revelations, Danish Kaneria admitted that no matter Shoiab Akhtar revealed within the chat present about discrimination towards him on the idea of faith was the reality. Kaneria was the second Hindu and seventh non-Muslim general to characterize Pakistan in worldwide cricket.
Similarly, Mohammad Yousuf, who was a Dalit Christian and referred to as Yousuf Youhana, modified his faith and identify later in his profession due to non secular discrimination. Former Pakistani diplomat Shaharyar M Khan who additionally served because the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board between 2003 and 2006 wrote about Yousuf’s controversial apostasy in his ebook, Cricket Cauldron: The Turbulent Politics of Sport in Pakistan.
According to Khan, Yousuf transformed to Islam as a result of his teammates, notably Inzamam-ul-Haq, pestered him to bear non secular conversion. Secondly, Yousuf believed that after conversion he might turn into captain of the Pakistani facet.
The normalisation of communal bigotry by Pakistanis: Waqar Younis mentioned he was proud to see Rizwan providing namaz in entrance of Hindus
Furthermore, there are quite a few situations that spotlight that Pakistani cricketers and commentators have normalised communal bigotry towards non-Muslims.
In October 2021, Pakistani quick bowler Waqar Younis was elated to share that it was very particular for him when Mohammad Rizwan recited the Namaz in entrance of Hindus through the India versus Pakistan match on the T20 World Cup.
Speaking on the discuss present, Younis mentioned, “The manner in which Babar and Rizwan batted, sensible yet aggressive, the strike-rotation, the look on their faces, it was amazing. The best thing, what Rizwan did, Mashallah, he offered the Namaz on the ground surrounded by Hindus, that was really something very very special for me.”
Once, Shoaib Akhtar advocated the Islamic supremacist fantasy of ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’, stating that Islamic forces would seize Kashmir and invade India.
Akhtar had mentioned, “It is written in our scriptures that Ghazwa e Hind will take place. The river in Attock will be coloured red twice with blood. Forces from Afghanistan will reach till Attock. Then after that forces will rise from Shamal Mashriq, and different contingents will arrive from Uzbekistan etc…this refers to Khorasan, a historical region that extended till Lahore. Later those forces will conquer Kashmir, and then, inshallah, they will march onwards (to the rest of India).”
Pertinent to notice that the Islamist doctrine Shoaib Akhtar endorsed has typically been cited by terrorists to justify their assaults in India. The Islamist terror assaults on India happen underneath the banner of Ghazwa-e-Hind. Radicals in Pakistan are skilled and brainwashed with the idea of Ghazwa-e-Hind, to arrange them for suicide missions in India and legitimise their jihad towards India.
Old anti-Hindu, anti-India tweets of Pakistani TV presenter Zainab Abbas, who joined the group of panellists internet hosting the World Cup 2023, go viral
The listing of Pakistani cricketers and commentators spewing venom towards non-believers is non-exhaustive however not too long ago it additionally surfaced on-line when Pakistani commentator Zainab Abbas launched into a go to to India to host the World Cup as presenter in India.
On 2nd October, screenshots of outdated anti-Hindu, anti-India tweets of Pakistani cricket presenter Zainab Abbas surfaced on-line.
A Rabid Hindu Hater from Pakistan is among the many ICC presenters for the World Cup
Shameful pic.twitter.com/2sezuNbafl
— Sensei Kraken Zero (@YearOfTheKraken) October 2, 2023
In her outdated tweets, she had written deplorable issues mocking India and Hindus telling them to eat meat and utilizing phrases like ‘stinking cow piss’ to explain India. Notably, Pakistan has been infamous for utilizing such slurs to derange Indians as meek Hindus who’re afraid of their ‘martial race’.
Why ICC and BCCI should cease cricket from turning right into a floor for Islamic conversions
Yet, the BCCI and the apex governing physique of cricket, the ICC, have remained mute spectators to the rampant abuse of the game by a bunch of radicalised people who’ve used the immense attain of the sport and the popularity it has given to them to propagate their non secular beliefs whereas serving of their official capability as sportspersons or commentators. Even worse, those that have displayed communal bigotry towards Hindus have been rewarded with profitable contracts and included within the commentary panel for commentating within the World Cup 2023, as witnessed with the inclusion of Waqar Younis and Zainab Abbas. Not simply BCCI and the ICC, the buck additionally stops with the Indian authorities to arrange an inventory of people with a historical past of anti-Hindu bigotry and put them on a visa blacklist in order that they don’t slip into India underneath any context.
A sport bridges variations between folks from completely different religions, teams, nationalities, and walks of life. It is a supply of leisure for hundreds of thousands of followers who neglect the day by day grind of life and immerse themselves within the recreation for the adrenaline rush and pleasure it generates. When non secular dogmas and beliefs get promoted on the plank of a sport, it not solely vitiates the sport but in addition undermines the secularism that the sport embodies, fuelling divisions and endorsing supremacism.
Just like India’s founding fathers envisioned separating politics from faith, ICC and BCCI would do properly to separate cricket from faith. Otherwise, we would as properly see cricket unravelling, identical to the implosion of Pakistan, an Islamic nation carved out of undivided India on the idea of faith.
As the World Cup is being hosted in India and BCCI has the requisite leverage energy over ICC, the very best decision-making physique in cricket, it’s for the BCCI to make it possible for the World Cup 2023 platform isn’t abused to propagate non secular ideologies or floor for conversion. The naked minimun the BCCI and the ICC can do is terminate the contracts of Matthew Hayden, Ramiz Raja, Waqar Younis, and Zainab Abbas, and ship a message to the cricketers and commentators that proselytisation of any religion and anti-Hindu bigotry won’t be tolerated.
