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For all the bonhomie and backslapping that seems to have enveloped the early part of India’s tour of Pakistan, one name crops up frequently when conversation inevitably veers around to politics. Bal Thackeray is regarded here with a mixture of exasperation and apprehension, and, somehow, representative of Hindu feelings towards Muslims in India.
Yet, the Shiv Sena chief has found an unlikely voice speaking up for him here. In an interview to the widely-circulated Urdu paper Jung, Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan came out in Thackeray’s defence, saying he was "not against Muslims." Replying to a pointed question in the course of the interview, Zaheer said: "There is no danger to Indian Muslims from Thackeray or the Shiv Sena." The daily quoted Zaheer as saying that there were many misconceptions about Thackeray, especially about the fact that he was anti-Muslim, which was not so. According to the Baroda-based left-arm quick bowler, there was nothing wrong with the Shiv Sena’s stand that anyone who was an Indian, irrespec- tive of religion, should think of the country first. "I have never met Bal Thackeray personally, but I know several of his relatives and they are all very secular in their outlook. I have never found anything communal about them," Khan told the daily.
On being asked about being a Muslim in India, Zaheer said: "I am Indian first, and I am proud to be Indian... I am here in the team because of my performance, my showing and not because of my religion. For me, India comes first." He added: "I have never faced any problems back home. Religion does not figure in my scheme of things when I play and my teammates never discuss religion. I have never been given this impression that I am in the team because I am a Muslim."
Zaheer said he was not pleased with
his performance in the Karachi one-dayer and hoped that he would be able
to do better in the rest of the series. The sides play here in the second
one-dayer on Tuesday. He was also lavish in his praise of Pakistani hospitality.
"It is overwhelming," Zaheer said and praised the capital city of Islamabad,
comparing its weather to Shimla. Karachi was a lot like Mumbai, he added.
"Both I and my teammates have been very impressed with the love and affection
shown by the people of Pakistan to us," he said. What particularly impressed
many in the squad was the reception accorded to them after the cliff-hanger
finish to the Karachi game, where the full house stood up to applaud the
Indian effort despite their team missing out by a whisker in the titanic
run- chase.
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