Shahid Afridi: Pakistan can’t even manage its four provinces, how will it handle Kashmir
Not averse to voicing his opinion on the Kashmir dispute, former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi on Wednesday said Pakistan was not even being able to handle its four provinces, leave alone Kashmir. Addressing students at the British Parliament, the swashbuckling cricketer said Kashmir should neither go to India nor Pakistan and vouched for its independence.
“Don’t give Kashmir to either Pakistan or India. Let Kashmir be independent. At least ‘insaaniyat‘ will stay alive and the spate of deaths will stop. Pakistan is not being able to handle its four provinces, what will they handle Kashmir. People who are dying there, it is painful. Any death, be it from any community, is painful,” the 38-year-old cricketer said.
Afridi, however, made it clear that he was not yet ready to take the political plunge and was keen on focusing on his charity work. “Don’t want to enter politics now, the focus is now on foundation and charity work,” he said.
The former cricket captain also listed two demands for Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Asserting that Pakistan cannot progress without education, he said the goal of the PTI government should be to take education to remote areas. “Imran Khan should focus on two things — end corruption and see that education reaches remote areas. Remote areas have access to Wifi but lack education. We cannot progress without education,” he said.
This is, however, not the first time that Afridi has commented on Kashmir. In April, Afridi kicked up a storm and invited wrath from all corners of India after he urged the United Nations to intervene and stop the bloodshed in “India occupied Kashmir.”
In 2016, ahead of a World T20 match in Mohali, he had said, “Many people here are from Kashmir.” He had also faced a backlash from his own country in 2016 after he said that he was showered with more love in India than in Pakistan.