PROUD INDIAN
“When I went to Pakistan in 2004 for the Friendship tour, I went to a college in Lahore along with Rahul Dravid, L Balaji, and Parthiv Patel.
In a question-and-answer segment attended by 1,500 students, one girl got up and asked, almost in anger: why do I play for India despite being a Muslim?
I stood up and said I am not doing any favours (ehsaan) by playing for India. It’s my country, and I am lucky, proud and honoured to represent it.
It’s my mulk, my country, a place where my ancestors all come from. Everyone in that college clapped.
If I can speak like that in Pakistan, in an open gathering, puffing out my chest, then I don’t need anyone’s permission in my own country to say what I feel.
I have represented my country. Some people should realise that. When I ran in to bowl for India, I didn’t think I am a Muslim. I am an Indian first before anything else.”
https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/its-our-responsibility-for-our-sanity-to-stay-calm-and-spread-love-irfan-pathan-6172532/
