Since my childhood, I have heard one popular rumour “Muslims support Pak team during Indo-Pak cricket match” which I have never witnessed in my entire life. (I am pretty sure most of them who tell this haven’t witnessed this either and I believe that it is a deliberate propaganda spread by right-wingers and Muslim haters). “They bursted crackers after Pak victory” is another accusation which also remains unwitnessed by me. Even if it’s true, how would anyone know Muslims did that and not some right wing fringes to divide society? “Muslims support Pak team” is how the conversation begins or ends among bigoted people. The funny part is that a person who never follows cricket also claims to have witnessed this and uses it as a hate tool against Muslims!

The hypocrites who keep whining against Indian Muslims wouldn’t find anything wrong when they side with other nation or player (except Pak) in different sports. Even if I find any person supporting Pak team, I don’t judge him/her as India hater. To all those who support other nation’s team in any sports, I would rather say, “Bravos! You have grown above this petty emotional nationalism!”

Nationalism and patriotism is when you don’t discriminate the citizens of your nation based on their caste, religion, region, language and sex. Nationalism is when you worry about 194 million citizens of your nation who are starving without food and do something to help them. Nationalism is when you worry about those millions of socially and economically backward people, suppressed women and unschooled children and do something for the betterment of this society.

The useless “emotional nationalism” would not yield us any results. But pragmatism does!