India vs Pak final: Sanjay Raut's 'nationalism' question; claims public unwilling to watch match

NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday questioned the idea of nationalism ahead of the India-Pakistan Asia Cup 2025 final scheduled to be played in Abu Dhabi at 8 pm.He said the match should not be happening at a time when India is still mourning the loss of lives in recent terror attacks.Speaking to reporters, Raut remarked, “This is not the biggest match; it is very bad for India and Pakistan to play a match in such an environment. When it comes to terrorism, the citizens of India don’t want to keep any connections with Pakistan.”Referring to the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives and India’s subsequent cross-border strikes under Operation Sindoor, Raut said the anger and grief had not subsided. “The way the vermillion of 26 women was wiped off, we did an Operation Sindoor for that. Despite this, if we play cricket with that country, then where has nationalism gone? However, money is a significant factor here. Even if rivers of blood flow, we will play cricket.”The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader further claimed that public sentiment was against the match. “This time, people don’t want to see the match even on their TV,” he said.Raut’s sharp criticism comes after his party launched the ‘Sindoor Raksha Abhiyan’, in which thousands of women from Maharashtra pledged to send sindoor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in protest. The party has maintained that playing cricket with Pakistan contradicts India’s stand on terrorism.Ahead of the tournament too, Raut had accused the ruling BJP and its allied groups of “shamelessness” and “treason” for allowing the series to go ahead. He had earlier said, “You said that water and blood will not flow together. If water and blood will not flow together, then how will blood and cricket work together?”Raut directed his criticism towards the BJP and also questioned the role of organizations such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, RSS and Bajrang Dal in the matter.