Bangladesh’s Cultural Adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki has questioned the neutrality of the International Cricket Council (ICC), accusing the governing body of double standards for refusing to shift Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup matches out of India despite “real and severe” security threats.
In a social media post on Friday, Farooki sharply criticized the ICC’s decision to keep the fixtures in India, contrasting it with how the body accommodates security concerns for India and Pakistan.
“If ICC truly wants to establish itself as a fair and neutral organization for all member nations, it must take Bangladesh's security concerns seriously and move the matches to Sri Lanka,” he wrote, adding that “the burden of proof for neutrality now lies with the ICC.”
Farooki mentioned recent violence to underscore the danger facing Bangladeshis in India. He pointed to a report by an Indian newspaper regarding the lynching of Manjur Laskar, a West Bengal-born Muslim man, who was beaten to death on suspicion of being Bangladeshi just yesterday.
“When you combine these incidents with the long-standing anti-Bangladesh hate campaign, which resulted in Mustafizur Rahman being removed from the IPL, it must be admitted that the security threat to Bangladeshi players in India is real and severe,” Farooki stated.
He also referenced warnings from Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray regarding the Bangladesh-India match in Mumbai.
Farooki noted that even the ICC's own internal and independent security assessments have indicated a 'moderate to high' risk level for the Bangladesh team, particularly if Mustafizur is in the squad and players are wearing national jerseys.
This follows comments made yesterday by Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul, who stated after a meeting with cricketers that the ICC had failed to do justice to Bangladesh's concerns. Nazrul also noted that the Indian government had made no effort to reassure Bangladesh regarding security.
While the ICC has dismissed the exclusion of Mustafizur from the IPL as an 'isolated' incident, the Bangladesh government insists it is directly linked to the broader hostility that necessitates a venue change.