KARACHI: Pakistan Sports Writers Federation (PSWF) President Amjad Aziz Malik and Secretary General Asghar Azim have expressed their concerns over India’s ban on Pakistani journalists from covering the World Cup.
According to a condemnation statement issued by PSWF on Friday, Amjad Aziz Malik said the non-issuance of Indian visas to Pakistani journalists for coverage of the World Cup was a reprehensible act. Both the International Cricket Council and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should raise their voice on the issue.
He said sports journalists around the world were the ambassadors of peace, the act of stopping them from coverage was condemnable.
Asghar Azim said in the current situation where the Indian government was already facing severe criticism for the serious violations of human rights in India, including the Kashmir issue, it seemed that the Indian government was afraid of Pakistani journalists and wanted to hide the ground realities.
He further said India should remember that sports journalists had nothing to do with politics.
Asghar said the matter had been discussed with the Pakistan Cricket Board, but no substantial response had been received from them.
He said the majority of journalists who were willing to cover the World Cup were those who had travelled to India many times, these journalists had ICC accreditation and visa support letters, so the Pakistan Sports Writers Federation demanded India and ICC to issue visas to Pakistani journalists immediately.