The shop owner has not filed an complaint in connection with the incident, the police said.
Panaji:
A shop owner at Calangute in Goa was forced to publicly apologise and raise ‘Bharat Mata ki jai‘ slogan after a video, in which he expressed support for the Pakistan cricket team, went viral on social media, a police official said on Saturday.
A group of men forced him to apologise and raise the slogan on Thursday, the official said, adding that no complaint has been filed in this connection.
A man in Goa, India, is being forced by a mob to sit on his knees to publicly apologize & shout ‘ Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ because he was supporting Pakistan cricket team when it was playing against New Zealand. How can a country of 1.4 billion be so insecure? pic.twitter.com/jjR8xYFCd8
— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) February 25, 2023
This took place following an undated video released by a travel vlogger, in which the shop owner at Calangute in North Goa is purportedly seen saying that he was supporting the Pakistan cricket team because it was a Muslim area. The neighbouring country was apparently playing against New Zealand when the video was shot.
The video shows the vlogger having a brief conversation with the man. The vlogger asks the shop owner, “Who is playing? Are you cheering for New Zealand?” The man replies, “For Pakistan.” The vlogger then asks him why, to which the man responds saying, “This is Muslim area.” After this video went viral, a group of people approached the shop owner on Thursday and questioned him for supporting Pakistan.
A video of the group forcing the shop owner to apologise also went viral on social media.
The video shows a member of the group telling the man, “This entire village is Calangute. There is no Muslim lane or any other lane. Don’t divide the country based on religion.” He is then asked to kneel down and apologise to the countrymen.
After initial reluctance, the shop owner is seen in the video tendering an apology by kneeling down and holding his ears. The video also shows the group making him raise the ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’ slogan.
When contacted, a local police official said a group of men forced the man to apologise.
“But no complaint has been filed in connection with the incident,” he said.
Sarpanch of Calangute, Joseph Sequeira, confirmed about the incident, but no formal complaint has been registered with the panchayat or any authority.
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