Thousands of fans dressed in Bangladesh garb with headbands reading “Shabash Bangladesh” and faces painted in red and green is quite a usual sight at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, rain or shine and regardless of the result.
But during the Twenty20 and two one-dayers so far against Pakistan, there has been quite a strange phenomenon.
The presence of people with Pakistani flags with their faces painted green and white has led to some believing that they are either Pakistani nationals who have travelled all the way here to watch the matches or who are currently residing in Bangladesh.
This has led to confusion among many who have claimed during the first two matches that these people are mostly locals who are supporting the opposition. And to bury the confusion this reporter of The Daily Star took a stroll outside
the Mirpur venue before yesterday’s second ODI and came across some people lined up with their faces painted with Pakistan flags and with posters and banners that said “Boom Boom Afridi” and the like.
Among them, a Mirpur businessman named Munir said he was a Bangladeshi but supported Pakistan because of Shahid Afridi.
“I like Pakistan because of [Shahid] Afridi,” he said but didn’t want to elaborate and walked away. The same applied to student Shihab, who had a Pakistan flag wrapped around him.
“I support Pakistan because they play awesome cricket. I like Bangladesh too but Pakistan just a bit more. I don’t think we should bring in politics or what happened in the past. This is just a sport,” said Samiha, a fourth year university student, who claimed that supporting a foreign country where the national side is also playing was perfectly fine.
But it is not perfectly fine for those with unbridled nationalistic pride.
“I’m going to support Bangladesh no matter what. How can people who are citizens of this country support Pakistan when they’re playing against Bangladesh? This is really strange behaviour,” expressed Shama, another university student, who regularly watches cricket matches.
“I actually find it quite unacceptable that some people can claim to be forward-minded by supporting Pakistan. I think they are just shallow,” she said.
-With The Daily Star input
