India vs Pakistan: What makes for an anti-national cricket fan?

The ripples of India’s win over Pakistan have not quite died down, as reports emerge of a 15-year-old boy and his parents being arrested and their scrap shop demolished by the authorities in Malyan in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district.

The incidents raise uncomfortable questions.

The police said they had acted on receiving a complaint that the boy had raised ‘anti-national’ slogans during the ICC Champions Trophy game between the arch rivals.

The parents of the boy have been charged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 197 (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 3 (5) (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

The police action has been endorsed by Nilesh Rane — MLA from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction and son of former union minister Narayan Rane, who alleged on X that the “scrap dealer made anti-India comments”.

Promising to “ensure he is eventually thrown out of the district” Rane said: “for now we have destroyed his scrap business”. Posting photographs of the demolition action, Rane thanked the Malvan municipal council and the police for taking “immediate action”.

But what counts as ‘anti-national’ sentiment that is ‘offensive’ under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita?

There have been multiple reports of celebrations by Pakistan fans in their country after Virat Kohli completed his 51^st century in ODIs, the match-winning stroke also ushering in his three-figure landmark with videos circulating on social media — but no persecution has been reported so far from across the border.

The history of India–Pak clashes — while replete with much jingoism on one hand and tempers flaring on the pitch on the other — has at the same time thrived on tales of enduring friendships between cricketers across the border and mutual respect of fans for each others’ top performers.

In India, there have been any number of admirers of the likes of Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, while the Pakistan fans have been respectful of legends like Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev all the way to Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah in recent times.

In a video story from Lahore, India Today group’s Nikhil Naz bumps into a young fan, Waleed, whose bike has this legend written in capital letters: ‘VIRAT 18’. That's the jersey number of the iconic batter.

‘’Kohli is the god of cricket and I have been a fan of him since 2016–17. We celebrated Kohli’s century by cutting a cake,’’ the Pakistan fan said.

Asked whether he was ever pulled up by anyone for this fanfare over a cricketer of the rival camp, he said no.

‘’My point is simple. Babar (Azam) or Shaheen (Afridi) needs to learn from Kohli or Bumrah. It’s a pity that India didn’t come to play here — otherwise, you could have seen the crowd yourself.’’

While in Dubai last week, a Pakistan youth (name withheld on request) had readily given me and another two colleagues a lift from the Dubai International Stadium to downtown — a good 15 km drive — on learning that we were Indian journalists there for the big match.

Asked how much animosity now persists between the fans of both countries, he said the younger generation has moved on from the past.

‘’I work for a real estate company and my roommate is an Indian. We live like flatmates from any other countries with religion hardly coming in the way — it’s the politicians who rake it up for their benefit from time to time,’’ he said during the drive.

Looks like he has got a point there!