Cricket, Politics, and the Indo-Pakistan Hypocrisy: A Masterclass in Selective Outrage

 

Cricket, Politics, and the Indo-Pakistan Hypocrisy: A Masterclass in Selective Outrage

Today, someone posed a seemingly simple question: Should the Indian cricket team play against the Pakistan cricket team in Pakistan? My immediate response was straightforward—if Indian businesses have been actively trading with Pakistan for over a decade, then the answer is yes. But, of course, in the spirit of fairness, I did a quick Google search to confirm, and, as expected, India continues to engage in hundreds of millions of dollars worth of trade with Pakistan.

Beyond business, let’s talk about sports. The Indian Kabaddi team regularly competes with the Pakistan Kabaddi team—both in India and in Pakistan. But since Kabaddi doesn’t get prime-time television coverage, no one seems to care. The moral outrage conveniently stays on mute when the sport in question doesn’t involve the glamour and money of cricket. Similarly, several businesses from Gujarat maintain close commercial ties with Pakistan, but, again, no one bats an eye. So, if sports and commerce are not the actual issues, what exactly is the problem?

The answer is simple: political posturing. Keeping the Indo-Pak rivalry alive serves as a convenient political tool for the ruling BJP, ensuring that public sentiment remains inflamed and easily exploitable during elections. The government’s selective outrage allows it to weaponize cricket while conveniently ignoring trade, business, and even diplomatic interactions with Pakistan when it suits its agenda. It’s almost as if the hate is meant to stay on the front page while the deals continue in the backrooms.

This narrative is further reinforced by the obsession with partition-era history. The ruling party, under the banner of saffron nationalism, continuously invokes the division of India in 1947 as if that event alone justifies an eternal state of hostility between the two nations. There is no doubt that terrorist attacks have occurred on both sides, leading to the tragic loss of innocent lives. But the idea that the people of both countries must remain permanently divided because of these events is shortsighted and strategically self-destructive.

In 2004, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a BJP stalwart, nearly settled the Kashmir issue through diplomacy, even after Pervez Musharraf, the architect of the Kargil conflict, was in power. Vajpayee understood something today’s government refuses to acknowledge—that India and Pakistan were divided by the British for their own strategic gains, and if these two nations worked together, they could build one of the world’s strongest economies. The Congress party continued to look for ways to rebuild a stronger relationship with Pakistan even after multiple wars between the two nations. The Congress leadership recognized that Western nations had a vested interest in keeping the Indo-Pak conflict alive, often fueling extremist factions in Pakistan to destabilize India. Yet, despite this reality, Congress worked toward rebuilding diplomatic ties, prioritizing economic cooperation over hostility.

The reality is that forces on both sides actively work to ensure that peace never becomes an option. Within Pakistan, extremist elements—some of which have been influenced by foreign powers who benefit from Indo-Pak tensions—have played a role in sabotaging diplomatic efforts. However, Pakistan’s political leadership has, on multiple occasions, extended an olive branch, most notably when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif welcomed Modi for an impromptu visit on his birthday—an unprecedented diplomatic gesture.

But let’s talk about Pulwama, since that’s the go-to argument for those opposing any form of diplomacy. If anyone still believes that this attack was a Pakistan-sponsored operation, then they should direct their anger at the Modi government’s intelligence failure that allowed 40+ Indian soldiers to be killed. No concrete proof has ever been presented that the Pakistan government was behind it—yet, it continues to be used as the ultimate justification for severing ties. This has been the standard playbook of the BJP: distract, divert, and dictate the narrative in a way that stirs nationalist sentiment while avoiding accountability.

Meanwhile, China has been steadily expanding its influence in the region, including a direct trade route from China to the Indian Ocean via Pakistan—a move that will significantly boost the economies of both China and Pakistan while leaving India behind. While India continues to posture about Pakistan, China is busy strengthening its regional dominance, ensuring that Pakistan emerges as an even stronger trade ally. By stubbornly clinging to nationalistic rhetoric instead of strategic diplomacy, India is inadvertently allowing its adversaries to strengthen their positions while isolating itself from critical regional alliances.

If the Modi government had any sense, it would immediately restart cricket diplomacy with Pakistan. Sporting relations are a powerful tool to ease tensions, foster dialogue, and remind people that shared culture and common interests still exist beyond political propaganda. Cricket, being the most popular sport in both nations, provides a unique opportunity to normalize relations and engage in people-to-people diplomacy. It has been done before, and it can be done again.

The question isn’t about whether India should play cricket in Pakistan—the real question is why India’s government chooses hypocrisy over strategy and political theater over economic and diplomatic progress. While the world moves forward with economic alliances and regional cooperation, India remains stuck in a loop of manufactured outrage and missed opportunities. At some point, the nation will have to decide whether it wants to be a global leader or a pawn in a never-ending game of electoral politics.

Yes, India needs to play cricket in Pakistan to strengthen people-to-people relationships, knowing well that on both sides we are alike in spoken language, culture, and shared values. By fostering these connections, India can counter China’s growing influence in Pakistan and gradually bring the country closer to its natural ally—India. Cricket can play a significant role in accomplishing these goals.