A Kerala community based in Dubai find themselves on the wrong side of social media after a video of them giving Pakistan's ex-cricketer Shahid Afridi a rousing reception has gone viral. In the video the community can be seen cheering loudly as Afridi goes upto the stage at the venue with performers in the background.
The people assembled stopped their cultural show when Afridi came and began chanting "Boom Boom", a moniker associated with the former all-rounder. In response, Afridi said: "Ho gaya Boom Boom". During his address Afridi also mentioned that he particularly enjoys "the Kerala part in India and its food."
However, the video has drawn massive flak online with many citing the ex-cricketer's stance on the heinous Pahalgam attack, which claimed the lives of 26 people and heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. Here are a few reactions:
At this moment when the entire country is still mourning the death of our brothers killed in Pahalgam & those killed during Op Sindoor...CUSAT Alumni Association Dubai invites Shahid Afridi of all people, who only spits venom against our nation and our soldiers. What a shame!!! pic.twitter.com/XPLVcSEyGT
Colonel S Dinny (Retd) (@sdinny14) May 31, 2025
Weeks after Shehbaz Sharif felicitated #ShahidAfridi , the #Kerala community in Dubai also felicitated him .Such bad optics .Shame on every Malayalee who was a part of this event .No wonder people from other states point fingers at us .#OperationSindoor pic.twitter.com/LYV4HJg4Xn Anoop (@AnoopChathoth) May 31, 2025
"The Mysterious India Series": Shahid Afridi criticizes India and the Indian armed forces while supporting extremists, yet the Indian community from Kerala in Dubai welcomes him." My head bows in shame and my blood boils. What would that soldier on borders would think when he pic.twitter.com/kYU4pmKos8
Lt Col Sushil Singh Sheoran, Veteran (@SushilS27538625) May 30, 2025
Welcoming Shahid Afridi with cheers just days after his disgraceful remarks on the Pahalgam terror attack deeply disappointing.Patriotism isnt a performance. Its about standing with your nation when it matters most. India deserves better from its own. #ShahidAfridi pic.twitter.com/YF0pVFQVfi The Green Line (@theGreenLine_) May 31, 2025
Meanwhile, the Cochin University BTech Alumni (CUBAA), organizers of the Inter-Collegiate Dance Competition Ormachuvadukal Season 2, which Afridi and former Pakistan pacer Umar Gul attended have distanced itself from the controversy. It released an official statement on their respective social media channels.
"On May 25, 2025 same day as our event, the aforementioned cricketers visited the same venue as part of the Guinness World Record for Largest UAE Flag with Handprints. This is reported in a prominent UAE newspaper Gulf News article published on May 27, 2025. This flag was displayed on the the main entrance of the Auditorium where our event was being conducted.
"As our program was concluding, these cricketers made an unannounced and unsolicited appearance at our event, which was held in the same auditorium. We would like to categorically state that no member of our organizing team, officials or alumni members invited them nor coordinated this appearance. Our officially published event schedule, which does not include these individuals as guests, further supports this," it read.
Throughout the recent military and political tensions between the two countries, Afridi has been steadfastly anti-Indian. While speaking on Pakistan’s Samaa TV in April, Afridi said even “if a firecracker were to burst in India, fingers will always be pointed at Pakistan."
He went further and blamed the Pahalgam terror attack on a failure by Indian armed forces, saying: “Tum logon ki 8 lakh hi fauj hai Kashmir mein aur yeh ho gaya. Iska matlab nalayak ho, nikamme ho na tum log security de nahi sake logon ko (You have an 800,000-strong army in Kashmir and this still happened. It means you are inefficient and useless if you can't provide security to the people).”
Afridi also seemed to take a subtle shot at Indian cricketers for claiming Pakistan was involved in the attack and made fun of the way the Indian media covered the issue, comparing it to a Bollywood production.
The Pahalgam terror incident has been attributed to the Resistance Front (TRF), a branch of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist organization based in Pakistan.
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