New Delhi [India], January 15 : Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary has shared a strong opinion amid Bangladesh's uncertainty to travel to India for the upcoming T20 World Cup, saying that sporting ties should not continue when humanitarian concerns are involved.
Speaking on the issue, Tiwary referred to past incidents and said his stance has remained unchanged.
"When the Pahalgam terrorist attack happened, I had said that India should not play against Pakistan. Even though the government allowed it, my opinion was, and still is, that such matches should not happen," Tiwary told ANI.
He added that the issue goes beyond cricket or sport.
"If any Indian is killed mercilessly in any country, whether it is Bangladesh, England, Australia or anywhere else, then India should not maintain sporting relations with that country," he stated.
Tiwary further expressed, "Sports should not be mixed with such serious matters but these matches will still be conducted because games were allowed against Pakistan earlier. Even now, they will go ahead but my personal opinion is very clear, they should not play," he said.
His remarks come in the backdrop of recent tensions in Bangladesh, where attacks on the Hindu community and a rise in anti-India rhetoric.
Earlier, Bangladesh's Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul has claimed that there is "no atmosphere to play" the T20 World Cup (WC) in India as he referred to a "letter" from the International Cricket Council (ICC) security team, the state news agency, BSS, reported on Monday.
International Cricket Council (ICC) sources said on Monday that independent risk assessments, carried out by internationally recognised security experts, do not conclude that Bangladesh cannot play its scheduled T20 World Cup matches in India, noting that the overall security risk for the tournament in India has been assessed as low to moderate, which is consistent with the profile of many major global sporting events.