Tuesday’s World Cup thriller between Afghanistan and Australia ended with the latter grabbing victory from the former after Glen Maxwell’s blistering knock of 201 runs.
As X (formerly Twitter) became flooded with memes and tweets about Maxwell’s performance, one user went viral for celebrating the loss of the Afghan cricket team by comparing it to the ongoing illegal deportations of Afghan refugees. The user wrote:
“Afghanistan to World Cup se bhi deport ho gaya.”
The comment drew outrage from Twitter users, including singer Hasan Raheem who quoted the tweet and responded:
Guys don’t be like zainab, be considerate https://t.co/7OciZ0wBLK
— hasan raheem (@hasanraheeem) November 7, 2023
Zunaira Imam, the wife of actor and director Usman Mukhtar expressed her disdain over the insensitive tweet by writing:
“This is not funny. This is not a joke. People are suffering right now. Our policies are not only harming Afghans but also Pashtuns who are being wrongfully incarcerated or deported. People’s pain and hardship should not be the punchline for a joke.”
This is not funny. This is not a joke. People are suffering right now. Our policies are not only harming Afghans but also Pashtuns who are being wrongfully incarcerated or deported. People's pain and hardship should not be the punchline for a joke. https://t.co/3aCDHssEzI
— Zunaira Inam Khan (@ZunairaInam) November 7, 2023
Right now, more than 100,000 Afghan refugees are detained in holding centres despite most of them being registered in Pakistan. Aurat March has highlighted cases such as that of a 17-year-old boy who was picked up and deported without informing his family.
We reported this a few hours ago, where this person's (a Pakistani citizen) 17 year old son was picked up. We have just learnt that he has been deported !. Who will be answerable for this? What will the 17 year old do when he arrives at the border?.#AfghanRefugeesInPakistan https://t.co/SOE6xIinUl
— Aurat March – عورت مارچ (@AuratMarchKHI) November 4, 2023
READ MORE: ‘Afghan-looking’ Pakistanis taken to holding centres for deportation, says Aurat March
In light of the trauma Afghan families face with the on-going deportations, X users were aghast at the insensitivity of the tweet. Especially when Pakistanis are championing the right for Palestinians to be given back their land.
The number of Pakistanis with Palestine flags in their DN / Bio / Header spewing venom against Afghanis today…
— food reviews at spicydabeli 🍛🍴📰 – link in bio (@spicydabeli) November 7, 2023
A lot of them are also vocal against Islamophobia in India (which I won't contest) but its pointless if you don't stand up for the minorities closer to home https://t.co/rQQn2mHZfZ
The level of racism and lack of compassion in some Palestine-supporting Pakistanis gives a whole new meaning to cognitive dissonance. https://t.co/x5N3l2U2nw
— Zahra (@zahrasalah0_0) November 8, 2023