Zainab Abbas: Pakistani cricket commentator leaves India after backlash

After receiving criticism for allegedly” insulting” messages on social media, a Pakistani reporter covering the Cricket World Cup in India has left the country.

Zainab Abbas was a member of the digital team for the International Cricket Council( ICC ) that covered the occasion.

Abbas left on Monday in response to statements made by some regional press outlets that she was compelled to leave.

She had, however, left for private reasons, according to an ICC voice who spoke with the BBC.

Regarding her exit, Abbas has not released any statements. She has been contacted by the BBC for remark.

Relations between India and Pakistan are uncomfortable because the neighbors have engaged in three war since gaining their independence in 1947. On Saturday, the two nations are scheduled to play a one-day game in the eastern city of Ahmedabad.

Abbas, a sports journalist and critic since 2015, was the first person to handle the cricket World Cup from Pakistan in 2019.

According to the Press Trust of India, she arrived in India last week and covered Pakistan’s World Cup opening match against the Netherlands on October 6. For Pakistan’s another games, she was scheduled to travel to Bengaluru, Chennai, and Ahmedabad.

However, she received a fierce backlash on social media after she was accused of making old posts last week and allegedly filed authorities complaints against her in the nation’s money, Delhi.

According to Advocate Vineet Jindal’s complaint, Abbas posted” derogatory and provocative posts” mocking India and Hinduism on her unofficial X ( previously Twitter ) account.

The pictures indicate that although these articles are older than a few years, they are no longer accessible on social media.

The tweet from Abbas’ official X account, in which she wrote about Kashmir’s right to self-determination, was also cited in Mr. Jindal ‘ problem. India and Pakistan each have a complete state to the Himalayan region.

On X, Mr. Jindal also shared a letter he sent to Home Minister Amit Shah and his son Jay Shah, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India( BCCI ), the organization that oversees Indian cricket, asking for the commentator to be fired from his position as an ICC presenter.

Abbas became popular on X on Tuesday as a result of many users in India sharing screenshots of her posts that were attributed to her unsubstantiated account and criticizing her.

Her name has been one of the most popular X trends in Pakistan as well, but some users have defended her and questioned the authenticity of her posts.

Rizwan Ghilzai, a Muslim journalist, claimed that Abbas had made” healthy return” from India. He wrote on X,” She has been the target of challenges in India due to her social media posts.” ” Sad that @ ICC was unable to defend its presenter.”

Shumaila Khan in Islamabad provided extra coverage.

NBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.