Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria has reiterated his claims of religious discrimination during his cricketing career, alleging that former teammate Shahid Afridi pressured him to convert to Islam.
Speaking at a Congressional briefing in Washington DC, the 44-year-old former leg-spinner highlighted the plight of minorities in Pakistan, stating that he never received equal respect and value in the national cricket team.
“We all gathered here and shared our experiences of how we were treated in Pakistan. We have faced discrimination, and today, we raised our voices against it,” Kaneria said, as per ANI.
Kaneria, who played 61 Test matches for Pakistan and is the country’s highest wicket-taking spinner with 261 scalps, accused Afridi of persistently urging him to convert.
“I, too, have faced a lot of discrimination, and my career was destroyed. I did not receive the respect and equal value I deserved in Pakistan. Because of this discrimination, I am in the US today. We spoke to raise awareness and let the USA know how much we have suffered so that action can be taken,” Kaneria added.
Reflecting on his career, he stated that only former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shoaib Akhtar had supported him.
“I was doing well in my career and was playing county cricket, too. Inzamam-ul-Haq supported me a lot and was the only captain who did so. Alongside him, Shoaib Akhtar. Shahid Afridi and many other Pakistan players troubled me a lot and didn’t eat with me. Shahid Afridi was the main person telling me to convert, and he did a lot of times. Inzamam-ul-Haq never used to talk that way.”
Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar had revealed during a chat show in 2019 that Danish Kaneria was treated unfairly by his Pakistani teammates because he was a Hindu.
Akhtar made the revelation during a show ‘Game on Hai’ aired on PTV Sports.
“In my career, I fought with two-three players (in the team) when they started talking on regionalism. So what if someone is a Hindu, he is doing well for the team,” said Akhtar.
“The same Hindu won the test for us against England. If he is taking a bagful wickets for Pakistan, he should play;” he added.
Kaneria remains one of only two Hindu cricketers to have played for Pakistan, the first being Anil Dalpat.
However, his career was marred by controversy when, in 2012, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) found him guilty of spot-fixing and banned him for life.
The issue of religious conversions in Pakistani cricket has surfaced before, with former cricketer Mohammad Yousuf, originally named Yousuf Youhana, converting from Christianity to Islam in 2005.
His conversion was reportedly influenced by attending preaching sessions of the Tablighi Jamaat and the influence of his teammate, Saeed Anwar.
The issue of religious discrimination and forced conversions in Pakistan remains a significant concern.
At the time of Pakistan’s independence in 1947, Hindus constituted 20.5 per cent of the population in the region. However, by 1998 — the last government census categorising people by religion—Hindus made up only 1.6 per cent of Pakistan’s population, with estimates suggesting a further decline in the last two decades.
As per Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) 7th Population and Housing Census report of 2023, Hindu population in Pakistan stood at 3.8 million. While the Christian community comprised 1.37 percent of the entire population.
The population of the Sikh community stood at 15,998 and Parsi at 2,348.
Reports indicate that forced conversions of Hindu girls and women through abduction and coerced marriages continue across Pakistan.
In Sindh, home to the country’s largest Hindu population, economic and social pressures have led to frequent conversions.
