Mumbai: Senior ideologue of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Ratan Sharda has slammed the Board of Control for  Cricket in India (BCCI), whose secretary is Jay Shah, son of Union home minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah, for going ahead with the cricket test match with Bangladesh.

In a video posted on the Hindu Post handle, Sharda, who is also the spokesperson for the RSS and regularly appears on television debates, has appealed to BCCI to call off the match which commenced at the M.A. Ramaswamy stadium in Chennai today or at least lodge a protest. 

In a strongly worded statement, Sharda said it was “inhuman and irresponsible” to play cricket with Bangladesh when a genocide of Hindus was taking place in that country post the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government. The video features Jay Shah's photo prominently.

Sharda noted that in 2021 the Indian cricket team taking part in the T20 tournament had taken to the knees in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign. Australia refused to play with Afghanistan to protest against the ill treatment of women in that country and South Africa was boycotted for 21 years because of its apartheid policy.

Sharda noted “I support #BoycottBangladeshCricket Fat rich boys of @JayShah can #TakeTheKnee for BLM but they are deaf to cries of our #BangladeshHindus?Disgusting@BCCIshift your HQ to Bangladesh.”

Sharda said sports cannot be divorced from human issues. The second test between India and Bangladesh is scheduled to commence on September 27 and if the touch stand adopted by the RSS thinker is any indication it may be cancelled. There is tremendous resentment within the Sangh Parivar over the BCCI's decision to go ahead with the matches despite gross ill treatment of Hindus in Bangladesh.