Danish Kaneria’s Remark Shows Real Face of Pakistan: Gambhir
Kaneria was only the second Hindu to play for Pakistan after his maternal uncle Anil Dalpat.
BJP MP Gautam Gambhir on Friday, 27 December said Pakistani cricketer Danish Kaneria's remark that he was mistreated by a few teammates for being a Hindu showed the "real face of Pakistan".
"We had captains like Mohammad Azharuddin leading India for such a long time. This is happening in a country helmed by Imran Khan who himself was a cricketer," Gambhir said.
"India gave so much respect to Mohammad Kaif, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel. In fact, Patel is my close friend. We always played as a team to make our country proud. But the reports coming in from Pakistan are really unfortunate," Gambhir said.
The cricketer-turned-politician said if a sportsperson could be meted out such a treatment, "one can only imagine what Hindus, Sikhs and other minorities have to go through (in Pakistan)".
Former pacer Shoaib Akhtar first revealed Kaneria faced discrimination at the hands of a few Pakistani cricketers, who were reluctant to even eat with him because he is a Hindu. Kaneria supported Akhtar's claim.
On the ongoing protests against the amended citizenship law, Gambhir said people were being misled and the legislation was not "anti-Muslim or anti-Indian".
"I would request people...whatever you want to do, please do it peacefully. The government will resolve your issues. Nothing will come out of violence, stone-pelting on police and damaging public property," he said.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)