An old video of Shahid Afridi, where the Pakistani cricketer is confessing about smashing a television set after seeing his daughter imitate an “Aarti” — a Hindi ritual of worship — has prompted angry reactions online.
The 57-second video, which has gone viral on several social media platform, features Afridi responding to the host when asked if he ever broke a television set.
"I have broken the TV once. Broke the TV because of my wife. There were a lot of these Star Plus dramas that were quite popular. I use to tell my wife to watch it alone and not let the kids watch. Once I came out of the room and saw one of my kids copying an 'aarti' scene while watching a Star Plus show. I looked at her and then smashed the TV into the wall," the former Pakistan all-rounder replied.
The video was posted by a Twitter user and immediately went viral. Many users slammed the former Pakistani cricketer for his comments.
Shahid Afridi, a cricketer with a cult following in Pakistan bragging about how he broke his TV because his wife was watching an Indian TV serial and trying to do Arati. Watch the anchor cackle like a hyena and see the audience applaud. This is Pakistan! pic.twitter.com/qBxmik3mJg
— Praveen Kumar (@RigidDemocracy) December 28, 2019
The surfacing of the video comes at the back of other former Pakistan cricketers Shoaib Akhtar and Danish Kaneria grabbing headlines for some of their comments.
Speaking on a PTV show titled 'Game on Hai', Akhtar had alleged that there were players who did not want Kaneria to be part of the Pakistan team because he is a Hindu, and that the spinner was never given due credit for his performances.
Kaneria supported Akhtar's claim, saying there were a "few players" who targeted him for being a Hindu during his time with the national team but never felt the urge or the pressure to change his religion.
Once viral, many criticised Afridi for disrespecting the customs of another religion.
Here Shahid Afridi is making fun of the Hindu ritual of Aarti and everyone’s enjoying but remember how he tweeted on the plight of Uighar muslims just two days ago and everyone forced him to delete? Islam is just an excuse to hide poverty in Pakistanpic.twitter.com/PyXV9e8QkC
— Monica (@TrulyMonica) December 28, 2019
and there were claps for this by the audience...
— Chinu (@chi_vart) December 29, 2019
You should say
— Basant Ladsaria (@BasantA49182115) December 28, 2019
This is reality of secularism in Islam.
Which is more irritating Afridi's comment or anchor's fake laugh and reaction..
— Shiva (@siva1302) December 28, 2019