Indian authorities arrest Kashmiri cricketers wearing Pakistan team jersey

Sources confirmed that cricket match entailed one team representing Pakistan and the other India

A video clip of Kashmiri cricketers wearing Pakistani jerseys and reciting the Pakistan national anthem was doing the rounds on social media yesterday. The clip went viral after the Kashmir Media Service uploaded the video on its website.

The cricketers represent a cricket club from the Kalmul area in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal and were arrested on Wednesday after authorities took action against them.



 

Security was beefed up when residents gathered near the police station demanding the immediate release of the 11 players. Ghulam Hassan Bhat, the Central Kashmir deputy inspector general of Police, said the boys had been detained for questioning purposes.

“The boys are in the police station,” he said.

Sources confirmed that the boys were playing a cricket match in which one team represented Pakistan and the other India. The Pakistani players wore the traditional green colour while the team representing India wore the team jersey.

According to a local resident, national anthems of both the countries were played.



However, it could not be verified if both the anthems were played or not because the online video only shows the Pakistani anthem being played.

The match was played on April 2 and the players of Baba Darya Uddin team were wearing the green Pakistan jersey.

Earlier this year, a video clip of two Kashmiri musicians singing the Pakistani national anthem surfaced and went viral on social media.

This story originally appeared on The Hindustan Times