Pakistan Super League (PSL) side Lahore Qalandars erupted controversy with a tasteless tweet that attempted to make fun of India and its armed forces. Qalandars posted a pic of their player Hussain Talat on the social media website and wrote: “Ye tu “Tea is Fantastic” hogya”. In the pic, Hussain can be seen sipping tea from a cup. The comment ‘Tea is Fantastic’ was used in reference to Indian Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman’s words when he was asked by the Pakistani army about the taste of the tea after he was captured. This incident took place three years ago, after the Pulwama attack, when Indian airforce shot down Pakistan’s fighter planes. Pakistan Army had then released a video in which they served tea to Abhinandan and his ‘Tea was fantastic’ comment had gone viral on the internet.
In that video, Abhinandan, looked fearless and confident even if he was being held captive. The ‘Tea was fantastic’ comment was his way to tell his motherland that he was fine. However, a section of Pakistani internet, which thrives on anti-India propaganda, brings the comment up on social media every now and then to take a dig at the neighbours. The cricket fans in India were quite surprised to see a respected PSL side like Lahore Qalandars also taking the same route.
Check out Qalandar’s tweet below and also strong reactions by Indian fans:
“Tea is fantastic” should make us prouder, our wing commander destroyed their F16 , which was sent as answer to our attacks on a terror camp with a mere mig-21 and drank some tea and come back with pride! https://t.co/WGq48gBHrn
— Akash Deshpande (@akashd7781) February 17, 2023
India has decided to isolate Pakistan in international cricket for the political issues, and it looks as though this won’t change anytime soon.
If this disappointing comment is anything to go by, the Pakistanis aren’t keen to revive cricket ties with India anytime soon, as well. https://t.co/MuwWDthMBE
— Vijay Arumugam (@vijayarumugam) February 18, 2023
Have always maintained that sports and art have the power & responsibility to bring people closer and unite people, but such tweets act in the exact opposite manner and do far more harm than what they can imagine. Surprised that this tweet is still up. https://t.co/eiVraZHXsD
— Gurkirat Singh Gill (@gurkiratsgill) February 17, 2023
