New Delhi: Aishanya Dwivedi, the young widow of Pahalgam terror attack victim Shubham Diwedi, has lashed out at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for agreeing to let the Indian team play Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025. Accusing Pakistan of being a ‘terrorist nation’, Aishanya urged all stakeholders to boycott India’s upcoming match against Pakistan.
Suryakumar Yadav-led India are scheduled to lock horns with Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai on Sunday, September 14. There have been nationwide calls for boycotting the game, however, both the BCCI and the Indian government have maintained silence on the matter, allowing the clash to take place months after Pakistan-linked terrorists killed 26 people in Jammu & Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
Criticising the BCCI for going ahead with the match, Aishanya, who saw her husband die in front of her in Pahalgam, said the Indian cricket board has no respect for the sacrifice of the 26 victims who died in the terror attack and the jawans, who laid their lives during Operation Sindoor against Pakistan. She said the BCCI has no problems with the match as those who lost their lives were not their family members.
“BCCI should not have accepted a match between India and Pakistan. Our own countrymen are making a huge mistake by accepting this match. I think BCCI is not sentimental towards those 26 families or the jawans, who lost their lives in Operation Sindoor. Their sacrifice is of no value to the BCCI because they didn’t lose one of their own. They are quiet because they didn’t lose anyone from their family,” Aishanya Dwivedi told ANI.
#WATCH | Kanpur, UP: On upcoming India vs Pakistan match in Asia Cup 2025, Aishanya Dwivedi – wife of Pahalgam terror attack victim Shubham Dwivedi, says, “BCCI should not have accepted a match between India and Pakistan…I think BCCI is not sentimental towards those 26… pic.twitter.com/1tAu9wjqSo
— ANI (@ANI) September 13, 2025
She also called out the Indian cricketers for not taking a stand against playing Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025. The 28-year-old said cricketers are viewed as nationalists and claim to be one, but none of the current ones have come out and said that they will not play Pakistan, taking a stand for the nation.
“Why are our cricketers sleeping? It is said that cricketers are nationalists. It is viewed as our national game despite hockey being our national game. But except 1-2 cricket players, nobody has stepped forward to say that we should boycott the match against Pakistan. You should take a stand. BCCI cannot make them play at gunpoint, but they are not taking a stand for the country,” said Aishanya.