ICC's underwhelming response to Zainab Abbas deportation
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On Monday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) refuted claims of deporting Pakistani sports presenter Zainab Abbas from India, where she was part of the World Cup 2023 broadcast team. They stated her departure from the country was due to "personal reasons."
ICC official C. Rajshekhar Rao confirmed this, despite some media reports suggesting security concerns arose following a complaint filed in Delhi by a local lawyer. The complaint accused her of posting "derogatory" tweets about the Hindu faith in the past. These allegations were based on screenshots from an account with Abbas' name on Twitter in 2014.
However, the veracity of these tweets remains unverified, and Dawn.com has reached out to her for comment. In addition, another tweet from her official account was cited in the complaint, solely due to its pro-Kashmir content.
The lawyer, Vineet Jindal, filed a cyber complaint against Abbas with the New Delhi police's cyber cell on Oct 4. He also sought the registration of a first information report (FIR) against the presenter, alleging "disparaging remarks about Hinduism and anti-India statements."
In a post on X, the advocate called for her removal from the list of World Cup presenters, claiming that "anti Bharat people are not welcome in Bharat." On Oct 7, Vineet shared a redacted version of another letter sent to Board of Cricket Control of India Secretary Jay Shah, urging action against the presenter for alleged anti-India remarks.
Meanwhile, Samaa TV, citing unnamed sources, reported that Abbas "categorically denied the allegations" and maintained that she was "unjustly targeted."
Sources close to her asserted that she had been falsely accused, and her past social media activity was "taken out of context" and "unrelated to her work as a presenter."
