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Jaitley speaks up against withdrawal of sedition charges against Meerut students

He said, ‘In the context of India-Pakistan cricket, there is nothing wrong in admiring the sporting qualities of a great cricketer irrespective of national boundaries.

However, when an identified group of persons in a structured manner celebrate the Pakistani victory, it is not an innocent appreciation of the sporting qualities of Pakistan.  There is a political statement in-built in such an act. The issue is not as to whether such young men can be prosecuted or not and if so under what section of the law. What is the political message that such a deliberate gesture is attempting to send?’

While claiming that such gesture (supporting Pakistan cricketers) creates a psychological barrier where some people arouse an uncalled for suspicion about themselves, he said, ‘Have they realized the extent of damage they do to millions of well meaning members of their own community who may not share their perception.’

He said, ‘The argument that this reflects a sense of alienation of a certain category of people fails to convince me. On the contrary it alienates them from the national mainstream.

All well-meaning Indians and in particular community members should prevail upon such misguiding young men that what they have done is to hurt themselves, hurt their community and hurt the country. It is a lose-lose game.’

On the context of nationalistic spirit, he said, ‘As a sports lover one can always admire the qualities of a great sportsman irrespective of his nationality. Some of them are a delight to observe. But in a competitive cricket the nationalistic spirit inevitably pulls you to your national team. I have seen fans in the World Cup Soccer travel with their national teams across the world to cheer them.’
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