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Highlighting Hindu cause: A VHP protest taken out in Kashmir in an earlier occasion

RADICAL Hindu groups on Friday (November 2) demanded the cancellation of the first Pakistan cricket tour to India in five years and threatened to hold protests against the visiting side.

Pakistan will play five matches in India starting on December 25 in Bangalore, reviving cross-border cricket ties that were broken after the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai by Pakistani militants.

The influential Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) said India should refuse to host the tour until arch-rival Pakistan brought to justice the masterminds behind the Mumbai attacks that left 166 people dead.

“Why should we have sporting links with a country which is directing terrorism against us,” VHP spokesman Prakash Sharma told reporters. “Pakistan is not even willing to accept evidence provided by India of its role.”

Pakistan in 2009 charged seven men over planning the Mumbai attacks, but insists it needs to gather more evidence in India before proceeding further.

Sharma declined to give details of any proposed protests, but security will be high for the games in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi.

Shiv Sena, another radical party based in Mumbai, on Thursday (November 1) branded the tour a “national shame” and said Indian cricket authorities were “betraying the country for sake of money”.

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