Kashmir has always been a contentious issue in the Indian sub-continent and has been dominating headlines for decades. Just the mention of ‘Kashmir‘ has the potential to start a media frenzy. Now throw this in with one of the most watched sporting segments and imagine the sequence of events.
The audience at India’s face off with Sri Lanka on July 6th, part of the on-going Cricket World Cup, would not have expected to see two planes flying by with banners that called for “Justice For Kashmir”, and “India Stop Genocide And Free Kashmir”.
"India, Stop Genocide. Free Kashmir."
Banner flown above Headingley during the India vs Sri Lanka #ICCWorldCup2019 yesterday. pic.twitter.com/vud4ikJmdG
— CJ Werleman (@cjwerleman) July 6, 2019
Reports of a third plane towing a banner which read “Help end mob lynching in India” was also said to have been spotted.
This follows on the heels of a similar incident on June 29th during Pakistan’s match against Afghanistan, when a plane with banners that said “Justice for Balochistan” and “Help End Enforced Disappearances in Pakistan” flew over the stadium. This incident led to clashes in the venue between fans of both the teams.
ICC Source: Fight broke out b/w Pak&Afghan fans in Leeds because a plane was flown which had Balochistan slogans. Apparently it was an unauthorised plane that flew over the stadium&political messages were visible. Leeds air traffic will investigate. (Pic courtesy: WorldBalochOrg) pic.twitter.com/cu0CyZ0w0U
— ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2019
India’s cricket body, the Board of Control for Cricket, has filed a complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC) following the July 6th incident. Following this, the ICC released a statement expressing their ‘disappointment’ and consternation.
“We are incredibly disappointed this has happened again,” the ICC said, adding that “We do not condone any sort of political messages at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.” They expressed disappointment at the recurrence of such an incident even after assurances by the West Yorkshire Police.
The global governing body for the sport emphasised the fact that they do not “condone any sort of political messages at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup”, and offered further assurance to “deal with and understand why this has happened and to ensure it does not happen again.”