Shahid Afridi was addressing students at the British parliament when he made remarks. (File)
Highlights
- Shahid Afridi said Pakistan does not want Kashmir
- He put out a tweet accusing the media of misconstruing his comments
- In 2016, he suggested many Kashmiri fans supported Pakistani cricketers
Former Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi has tossed up a new controversy with a comment on Kashmir, made on foreign soil. "Pakistan doesn't want Kashmir... Pakistan can't even manage its four provinces," the former cricket captain said in London.
The 38-year-old cricketer was addressing students at the British parliament when he made remarks that are embarrassing to his country and its new government headed by cricket legend Imran Khan.
"I say Pakistan doesn't want Kashmir. Don't give it to India either. Let Kashmir be independent. At least humanity will be alive. Let people not die... Pakistan doesn't want Kashmir... It can't even manage its four provinces...What is the big thing is insaaniyat (humanity). People who are dying there, it is painful. Any death, be it from any community, is painful," Shahid Afridi was heard saying in a video posted on social media.
He later put out a tweet accusing the media of misconstruing his comments.
In April, the former Pakistani skipper had been clobbered on social media for a tweet commenting that there was an "appalling and worrisome situation" in Kashmir and urging the UN to intervene.
And before that, way back in 2016, Afridi had suggested that a lot of Kashmiri fans supported Pakistani cricketers.
In response to the comments, several Twitter users have reminded the cricketer that Pakistan has failed to dismantle terror sanctuaries on its soil and allows global terrorists like 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed to roam freely.
Pakistan's new government led by Imran Khan has not included Hafiz Saeed's terror outfits in its latest 'terror watch list', according to a media report.
A recent report said Pakistan remains a breeding ground and supporter of global terrorism and is responsible for three times the terror risk to humanity that Syria poses.