Did Pak Cricket Fans Say 'We Don't Want Kashmir, Give Us Virat Kohli' After World Cup Loss to India?

An India Pakistan cricket match is not just about the sport as the contest is warped by the immense pressure, political tensions arising out of the Kashmir conflict and the war rhetoric in the two nations.

Fans are more interested in the bragging rights than the points, and this was reflected in the onslaught of reactions and memes that India’s demolition of the Pakistani team on Sunday sparked.

But amid all the Father’s Day jokes, there has also been an effort to turn the win into a propaganda effort, as was seen with the tweet of one Ibn Sina, which has gone viral.

The tweet shows a picture of several youth, with Pakistan flags, holding a banner that reads: "WE DON'T WANT KASHMIR GIVE US VIRAT KOHLI.”

The person who posted this image claims to be a Kashmiri Muslim “but not less than a Hindu”. “My religion is Islam but my culture is Hinduism,” the bio reads.

Soon, the fake news factory jumped at the chance and implied that Pakistan fans are asking for Virat Kohli in exchange for Kashmir. Yes, you read that right.

The photo was also retweeted by several right-wing accounts, including writer Madhu Kishwar, who said: “At one time Pakistanis used to chant, "Madhuri de do, POK bhi le lo". New ambitions, new frustrations.”

Real or Fake?

The picture in question has been doctored to include the words "WE DON'T WANT KASHMIR GIVE US VIRAT KOHLI".

A reverse image search shows that it originally belongs to an India Today article of August 2016 on Kashmiri youth raising pro-Pakistan slogans in the Kashmir Valley, following Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani's death.

The original picture shows Kashmiri youth standing with a banner which reads "WE WANT AZAADI".

The original image in India Today article from 2016.

The viral photoshop image has been circulating on social media before also as evident by this 2018 tweet with the same photoshopped image.

This banner has been tampered with to include the names of different tournaments, cricketers like Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni and even the UPA in the past.