Tamil Nadu has been at the forefront of news headlines in recent times, becoming the centre of attention, thanks to a series of contentious issues. Initially, it was for the controversial actions of the police, perceived by some as infringing on people’s freedom of speech. This was followed by a minister’s call for the eradication of Sanathana Dharma, sparking significant debate. A member of the Congress party created a stir by publicly expressing their desire for Pakistan’s victory in the ICC World Cup 2023.

Adding to the mix, the recent India vs. Pakistan ODI in Ahmedabad saw politicians and social media “influencers” openly criticising the ‘Jai Shree Ram’ chants, further fueling the ongoing discourse. 

With all this happening, one can’t help but wonder what the next headline from Tamil Nadu will be. And here it is, for all the wrong reasons ….. 

With Pakistan vs Afghanistan underway on 23 October at Chepauk’s MA Chidambaram Stadium in the capital city Chennai, several fans were allegedly denied from taking flags of Bharat into the stadium. Those hawkers who were selling the flags were also reprimanded. A sub-inspector in a viral video was seen throwing the flags collected into a dustbin. After backlash, he took them away. 

This caused a lot of outrage among cricket fans and patriots. Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai lashed out at the ruling DMK for the chaos. He wrote a post on social media platform X which said,  

“Gopalapuram Scion Thiru Udhaystalin had problems with the #JaiShriRam chant during the Cricket match against Pakistan, having forgotten the treatment meted out to our players in Pakistan in the past. DMK Minister Thiru Ponmudi’s son & TNCA President Thiru Ashok Sigamani has taken their political propaganda one step further and have insulted our Nation’s flag today. The police outside the stadium disallowed fans from carrying the Indian flag to today’s match in Chepauk. Who gave TNCA this right? 

We demand the strictest action against the police officers for insulting our National flag, and the DMK should apologise to the people of our state, failing which, @BJP4TamilNadu will be compelled to protest against this Corrupt DMK government for denigrating the sanctity of the Tricolor.”

Action taken against SI

The Tamil Nadu police responded swiftly to the allegations, clarifying that flags were indeed allowed inside the stadium. They emphasized that the incident highlighted in the viral video was the individual action of the police officer. Consequently, a departmental inquiry was initiated against the officer.

The Triplicane Deputy Commissioner of Police, Deshmukh Shekhar Sanjay, speaking to The Indian Express confirmed that there was no ban on carrying any flags into the stadium. He explained that police on duty were instructed to monitor flags and banners for potentially controversial content.

Pakistani fan behaviour inside the stadium

Several members of the audience, wearing school uniforms, were seen chanting Pakistan Zindabad, as seen in this video:

Many raised the question about the Tamil Nadu government using students/children to propagate their agenda. 

In another video, a man wearing the green jersey is seen singing Dil Dil Pakistan and when the words Jaan Jaan Pakistan came up, he points to the student crowd (especially girls) sitting on his right. 

In a video shared by a handle named We Dravidians with the caption “We are correcting the bad name created by the north Indians on our nation!

-Tamil Nadu boy!”, a “Tamil Nadu boy” is seen supporting Pakistan (he has worn a Pak jersey) and justifies why he is doing so. He says, “We are not Pakistan fans, we support India always but since we couldn’t watch an India match, we’ve come here. If there is an India-Pak match, maybe in the semi-final or final, it will be more interesting. Secondly, they should not make any fuss and just watch the match. Treat sports as sports, that’s all. They think they are insulting Pakistan but are actually insulting our own country in the process. Don’t do this. No matter what happens, as far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, no one can create any chaos or riots, everyone is the same here. Cricket is cricket, it doesn’t matter which country plays the game. Since Pakistan is playing Afghanistan, we are wearing Pakistan jerseys. When India and Pakistan play we will wear India jersey. We support the team based on the matches. No matter what anyone does, the Tamil audience will not humiliate or hurt any team. India’s honour is in our hands. We will save India. That’s all. No one should do such a thing, we must respect India. By insulting other teams, they gave a bad name to our country, this should not happen again.” 

Netizen reaction to the whole issue

Afghanistan defeated Pakistan by 8 wickets.