The family of a Pahalgam terror attack victim from Jaipur has defended the decision for India to play Pakistan in an Asia Cup cricket match held in Dubai on Sunday, saying that the game and the attack were different matters.
Niraj Udhwani from Jaipur worked in Dubai and had come to India with his wife, Aayushi, to attend a wedding in Shimla earlier this year. After the wedding, the couple went to Pahalgam in Kashmir for a holiday, when terrorists opened fire on tourists, killing 26 people including Niraj. The April 22 attack was followed by days of cross-border hostility, leaving several civilians dead in border areas.
Bhagwan Das Udhwani, the younger brother of Niraj’s late father Pradeep, told The Indian Express that he had no interest in watching cricket. However, he said the matter of cricket and the terror attack should not be mixed.
Bhagwan said, “Woh khel ki bhavna hai, woh alag cheez hai, ye cheez alag hai. Usmein is baat ko tuul dena nahi chahiye (It’s the spirit of the game. This is a different thing and that [the Pahalgam attack] is a different thing. One should not equate the two).”
Prakash Udhwani, another of Niraj’s uncles, said, “Pahalgam was an India–Pakistan issue. But the match is of an international level, where other countries are also involved since it is the Asia Cup. Agar India nahi khelega toh naam kharab hoga, bahar ho jaayega (If India doesn’t play, then its name will be tarnished and it will be out of the tournament).”
“Pakistan is in Asia just like other countries. Match toh karna chahiye tha, koi dikkat nahi hai (It was right for the match to have taken place, there is no issue). We know India always defeats Pakistan, and Pakistan was humiliated (in the match), but that’s different. Boycotts, etc, are just gimmicks. National and international-level matters are separate. Uss hisab se match hua hai toh theek hua hai (In that context, it is fine that the match happened),” Prakash said.
India defeated Pakistan by 7 wickets in Sunday’s T20 match.
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Earlier, BJP MP and former sports minister Anurag Thakur had told news agency ANI that the match took place only because it was part of a multinational tournament organised by the International Cricket Council.
Niraj and Aayushi got married in February 2023 and had no children. Niraj studied at the Indian High School in Dubai, and had returned to India for his undergraduate and accounting courses, before heading to the UAE again to work as a finance manager at Cognita Schools in Dubai.
Family members said that Aayushi has since returned to Dubai.
