Watch: Cop prevents fan from chanting 'Pakistan Zindabad' during Australia World Cup clash in Bengaluru

A video has surfaced on social media in which a cop is believed to prevent a fan from chanting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ during the team’s World Cup clash against Australia in Bengaluru.

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The 45-second clip of a fan at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, wearing a Pakistan cricket team jersey, sees them argue with a police official stationed for security.

The fan, rightly, argues why it is acceptable to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ but not ‘Pakistan Zindabad’.

In response, the security official can be heard saying that (chanting) ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ is fine but shouting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ is not good.

“Why not? I have come from Pakistan, Pakistan is playing, what else should I say?” the fan asked the cop.

It’s shocking and upsetting to see that people are being stopped from cheering “Pakistan Zindabad” at the game.

This totally goes against what the sport is about!#CWC23 #PAKvsAUS #AUSvsPAK pic.twitter.com/iVnyFlNB09

— Momin Saqib (@mominsaqib) October 20, 2023

The Pakistan fan then whipped out his mobile phone and asked the policeman to tell him on video that he’s not allowed to say ‘Pakistan Zindabad’.

“It is a word from the higher authorities that fans should not be allowed to engage in provocative acts. So, we are following it,” an unnamed cop said to news agency PTI.

It comes on the heels of Pakistan’s director of cricket Mickey Arthur suggesting that the World Cup feels like a BCCI tournament, a bilateral series, instead of an ICC event.

“Look, I’d be lying if I said… It didn’t seem like an ICC event, tonight, to be brutally honest. It seemed like a bilateral series; it seemed like a BCCI event. I didn’t hear Dil Dil Pakistan coming through the microphones too often tonight,” Arthur had said after Pakistan’s defeat against India in Ahmedabad.

“So yes, that does play a role, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse because for us, it was about living the moment, it was about the next ball and it was about how we were going to combat the Indian, the Indian players tonight,” the 55-year-old added.

The police kept strict vigil at the stadium in Bengaluru to avoid any disruptions. Fans were asked not to use black dress as a mark of protest, though they did not bar anyone from wearing clothes of that particular colour while entering the stands.

However, the police asked the fans not to use placards with provocative slogans.

“We were instructed to check placards and banners of fans before they enter the stadium, so that there will not be any untoward incident,” said a security official to PTI on condition of anonymity.

B Dayanand, the City Police Commissioner, had given special instructions to his officers, particularly because the city had witnessed couple of protest marches in support of Palestine during the ongoing conflict with Israel.