Shiv Sena (UBT) Leader Anand Dubey Protests India-Pakistan Cricket Ties After Pahalgam Killings

By A Staff Reporter

Mumbai — Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anand Dubey on Sunday reiterated his party’s opposition to sporting ties with Pakistan, saying the deaths of people in Pahalgam on April 22 remain an open wound. Addressing supporters in Mumbai, Dubey said the party — joined by “many people and mothers,” as he put it — would send sindoor and money to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a symbolic protest against resuming cricketing ties.

“The way our people were killed in Pahalgam on April 22, we will not forget that,” Dubey said. He questioned the logic of separating sport from political and security concerns, asking: “Pakistan, which is the centre of terrorism, why should we play cricket with them? When the PM said blood and water cannot flow together, why should cricket and blood go together?”

Dubey’s remarks reflect a recurring debate in public life about whether high-profile bilateral sporting events should proceed amid unresolved security grievances and allegations. His comments also signal the use of emotive symbolism — sindoor, typically used in domestic religious observances — to register political protest and public sentiment.