Owaisi Slams BJP Over India-Pakistan Cricket Match, Questions “Price of 26 Lives”

By A Staff Reporter

Hyderabad — All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi has strongly criticised the government over India’s decision to play cricket against Pakistan, questioning the value placed on lives lost in terror attacks.

Speaking at a public meeting late on Saturday night, Owaisi targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of prioritising financial gains from cricket over national security and the memory of victims of terrorism. “I want to ask the Assam CM, the UP CM, and all those who use absurd language — do they not have the courage to cancel a cricket match with Pakistan, a country that killed 26 of our innocent people? Would you have played had your daughter been killed?” he asked.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s earlier remarks that “water and blood cannot flow together,” Owaisi said the same principle should apply to cricket. “When the PM said that terror and talks aren’t possible — how much money will this one match earn? BJP claims to be nationalist; you talk big but get 'stumped' over cricket,” he added.

He further alleged that for the ruling party, the revenue from broadcasting and advertising tied to the match outweighed the sacrifices of those killed in attacks attributed to Pakistan-based groups. “Pakistani terrorists killed 26 people in the name of religion. We ask the BJP and RSS: What is the price of those 26 lives? To you, it is equal to the ad revenue from the match. BJP is not seeing the lives we lost — only the money,” Owaisi said.