Indian Occupied Kashmir’s team pulls out of local tournament

The Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) team has decided against participating in Vizzy Trophy in Visakhapatnam.

According to details, the IOK’s cricket association did not get any security assurances from their governor Satya Pal Malik, with regards to their travelling arrangements, while they also failed to establish contact with many of their players, including captain Parvez Rasool.

Speaking on the development, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IOK’s cricket association SAH Bukhari confirmed that the biggest issue was communication with players.

“It’s unlikely we will be going to play Vizzy Trophy. The situation is improving, but the biggest obstacle has been communication with our players. We have cellphone numbers of all our players in our association office, but they have not given any landline numbers. In today’s time, people don’t use landline and rely on cellphone. We have managed to speak to a few players but couldn’t speak to those who are in the Valley as their mobile phones aren’t working. Also, we don’t know where Parvez Rasool is,” Bukhari told The Indian Express.

 When asked about what steps the association had taken to get in touch with its players, Bukhari said: “No, we didn’t because if we sent our car to search for our players, we don’t know what is happening in their villages. We don’t want to take that risk. As this is just a local tournament and not a BCCI tournament, we thought it’s better not play this season.”

Tensions between Pakistan and India have heightened following the abrogation of IOK’s special status in the first week of August. New Delhi ended the autonomous status of the territory on August 5, stepping up movement restrictions and cutting off phone and internet access to head off civil unrest, and igniting calls from Pakistan for the international community to intervene.