SRINAGAR: After singing of Pakistan national anthem and chanting of pro-Pakistani slogans, the anthem of Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK) was played before start of a cricket match in volatile south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The posters of Hizbul Mujahideen militants were also displayed during the match.
A video clip has gone viral of PaK national anthem being played before final match of a cricket tournament in Pulwama the other day.
In the video clip, players of two teams -- Shining Stars Pampore and Pulwama Tigers – are lined up before the start of the match and standing in deference as national anthem of PaK is played. Both the teams wear blue uniforms.
The match was played at Pulwama stadium and was attended by large number of people.
It was for the first time that a national anthem of PaK has been sung or played in the Valley.
During the match, the posters of slain and active Hizbul Mujahideen militants were also displayed.
Pulwama alongwith three other districts of south Kashmir has become stronghold of militants. South Kashmir was also the epicenter of last year’s unrest in the Valley triggered by killing of 21-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on July 8, 2016.
A police officer said police has taken cognizance of the incident and launched investigations.
“The guilty won’t be spared,” he said.
In April this year, Pakistan national anthem was played before start of a cricket match in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.
Players of one of the team wore Pakistan team jersey during the match.
After the video clip went viral, police detained the cricketers and organizers of the match for singing Pakistan anthem.
The video had gone viral on social media on April 2, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Chenani-Nashri tunnel, the longest rail tunnel in country, on Srinagar-Jammu highway.
In February this year, singing of Pakistan’s anthem by two young Kashmiri musicians using traditional instruments had also gone viral on social media.
Meanwhile, a policeman Syed Naveed Mushtaq, who had decamped with four rifles from central Kashmir’s Budgam district on Saturday evening, has joined Hizbul Mujahideen.
Hizb spokesman, Burhan-u-Din, told local news gathering agencies in Srinagar that the policeman, who hails from Shopian district in south Kashmir, has joined the militant outfit along with the four rifles.