Javed Miandad claims to be ready to die for Pakistan and calls for 'all-out attack' on India

After tensions between India and Pakistan intensified last week, following “surgical strikes” conducted by the Indian Army across the Line of Control (LOC), reactions from across the border have ranged from belligerence to caution. The latest Pakistani voice to lash out against India is former cricketer Javed Miandad, who has called for an “all-out attack” on India. Miandad went onto say that he’s “ready for martyrdom” if needed.

Miandad, in a television interview with Pakistani news channel Samaa TV, said, “I have traveled a lot to India during my cricketing days. I know that the general public (in India) is not like that. But there are people like Narendra Modi, who is an egg. An egg who doesn’t know about his father or mother. He doesn’t know who is he threatening. We are ready for war. We are ready for martyrdom. Every Pakistani, even every child, is ready to fight and die for this holy war. They (referring to India) are cowards, they have no army, nothing.” Here is the full video for the former Pakistani captain speaking about the ongoing relations between the two nations:

Miandad is not the first cricketer to speak on the issue. Anurag Thakur, BJP MP and president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), had urged the ICC to not put India and Pakistan in the same group during international tournaments so as to avoid head-to-head clashes. The two nations haven’t played a bilateral tournament since 2012, but have clashed at several international events in the four years since. Pakistani cricketers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal, however, have taken the opposite viewpoint, saying cricket can ease tensions between the two nations and continuing it will normalise the situation. Off-spinner Ajmal had told reporters in Muzaffarabad, Kashmir, “In the past also, having cricket series helped reduce tensions, and I firmly believe there should be cricket between the two countries.” Afridi, who has often talked about the love he gets from Indians, took to social media to call for peaceful resolution of the ongoing bitterness.

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