Govt chose profit over compassion: Gaurav on India-Pak Asia Cup tie

Guwahati, Sep 14 (PTI) Congress' Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi slammed the BJP government for going ahead with the India-Pakistan cricket match on Sunday, alleging that it shows the ruling party has "chosen profit over compassion".

He termed it a "betrayal" of national sentiment and "grave insult" to the memory of Pahalgam terror attack victims.

India and Pakistan are meeting in a T20 International after more than 15 months in an Asia Cup group match in Dubai on Sunday.

Gogoi has been criticising the decision to play against Pakistan after the Pahalgam attack, and had written to the BCCI also to not participate in matches against the neighbouring country.

"The decision of the BJP government to go ahead with the India–Pakistan cricket match exposes its misplaced priorities," Gogoi said in a post on X.

He said that only a few months ago, innocent civilians lost their lives in the Pahalgam terror attack, and their families continue to bear the pain of that tragedy.

"Yet this government has chosen profit and spectacle over compassion and sensitivity. By treating cricket as separate from the blood that has been shed on our soil, they have shown that money matters more than the suffering of our people," the Congress leader said.

"Such indifference is a betrayal of national sentiment and a grave insult to the memory of the victims," the Assam Congress president added.

Gogoi had last month written to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary, Devajit Saikia, to ensure that the Indian team does not participate in matches against Pakistan in the wake of the current bilateral situation between the two countries.

In an earlier post on X, Gogoi had urged Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to use his close association with BCCI secretary, who hails from Assam and is also the state's advocate general, to persuade the country's apex cricketing body to pull out of the match with Pakistan.

Stating that he will be boycotting the match in case it goes ahead, Gogoi added, "Playing cricket when soldiers have died is an insult." PTI SSG SSG RG