Weeks after Shahid Afridi mocked the Indian side in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, a Kerala community in Dubai welcomed the former Pakistan cricketer, inviting backlash from social media users. The Cochin University B.Tech Alumni Association (CUBAA) organised the event at the Pakistan Association Dubai (PAD) last week and extended hospitality to Afridi, who has time and again made distasteful remarks against Indians.
In a widely circulated video on social media, the notorious Pakistani cricketer could be seen being welcomed on stage, alongside his ex-teammate Umar Gul, by the community amid loud cheers. As he arrived, some members could be heard breaking into chants of "boom Boom" in an apparent reference to the cricketer's nickname. The 47-year-old responded by saying, “Hogaya Boom Boom".
While India is in the middle of #OperationSindoor, the “Indian Kerala community” in UAE was busy cheering Shahid Afridi & Umar Gul.
— महारथी-മഹാരഥി (@MahaRathii) May 30, 2025
Kerala once again shows its true colours celebrating Pakistani stars while our soldiers fight on the frontlines.
Priorities, right? #KeralaModel… pic.twitter.com/cKVWTU7FYy
After the criticism, CUBAA released a statement, claiming that the Pakistani cricketers turned up at the event uninvited as they were attending some other programme at the same venue.
"On May 25, 2025 same day as our event, the aforementioned cricketers visited the same venue as part of the Guinness World Record for Largest UAE Flag with Handprints," read the statement.
"As our program was concluding, these cricketers made an unannounced and unsolicited appearance at our event, which was held in the same auditorium. We would like to categorically state that no member of our organising team, officials or alumni members invited them nor coordinated this appearance."
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Afridi blames India
After the Pahalgam terror attack where 26 innocent civilians lost their lives, Afridi appeared on Pakistani television and blamed India's security forces, questioning their efficiency.
"Tum logon ki 8 lakh hi fauj hai Kashmir mein aur yeh ho gaya. Iska matlab nalayak ho, nikamme ho na tum log security de nahi sake logon ko (You have an 800,000-strong army in Kashmir and this still happened. It means you are inefficient and useless if you can't provide security to the people)."
Similarly, after India struck multiple Pakistani security establishments as part of Operation Sindoor, Afridi took out a car rally, proclaiming his country's 'victory' in the conflict.
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