PCB Seeks Permission From BCB Over Hoisting National Flag

(@FahadShabbir)

PCB seeks permission from BCB over hoisting national flag

Display of national flag by Pakistani players during a practice session in Dhaka has triggered an aggressive debate on social media in Bangladesh.

Dhaka: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-Nov 18th, 2021) Pakistan Cricket board on Thursday sought permission from the Bangladesh Cricket Board to hoist national flag during practice Session in Dhaka.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) would also inform the cricket authorities in Pakistan about permission.

The Pakistani players hoisted the national flag but it went viral on social media, triggering an aggressive debate in Bangladesh.

Interim head coach Saqlain Mushtaq started this practice during the New Zealand series in September, and then carried it over to the T20 World Cup in United Arab Emirates.

According to Saqlain, the flag's presence is a symbolic reminder that "220 million people are with us".

Pakistan are due to play three T20Is and two Tests in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Information Minister Murad Hasan said that Pakistan cricket team should be returned back for displaying their national flag during their practice session.

Earlier, the Minister termed display of Pakistani flag as “defiance of protocol” during the players’ practice sessions at a local ground.

Murad Hasan said that he had nothing to say about the players in Pakistani team but display of Pakistani flag during practice session was “inappropriate”. The minister expressed these words while talking to the reporters during his visit of the bookstore of publisher Batighar in Chattongram on Thursday.

The minister said, “This is not acceptable to us that Pakistani team is hoisting their national flag during practice sessions, especially at this very moment when we’re celebrating the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,”.

He said it was taking place at the time when the Bangladeshi nation was celebrating the golden jubilee of its independence.

The Minister said, “I think they [the Pakistani players] should be sent back along with their flag,”.

Hasan went on to say that “Our hearts wrench when we see the Pakistani flag. Why do they need the flag for a practice session? Is it drama or farce? This should not be allowed. We fought them and earned our independence through the blood of 3 million martyrs,”.

He also highlighted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s initiatives to elevate Bangladesh cricket to international standards, pointing out that cricket teams from those countries well known on the international field can visit Bangladesh.

“There’s no problem there,” said the minister.

The reaction of the minster came after photos of the hoisting flags went viral on social media and caused huge backlash.

The team, which is visiting Bangladesh to play a T20 series, took part in a practice at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Monday while carrying their national flag.

Bangladesh emerged as an independent country five decades ago.