Asif Ghafoor shared a video Friday on Twitter of Sri Lankan skipper Lahiru Thirimanne sipping tea with the caption “Pakistani tea is ‘fantastic’ too”.
The video has outraged many Indian twitterati as it appears to be mocking the Indian dogfight hero, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was briefly detained by Pakistani Army during the February dogfight. Wing Commander Varthaman was seen in a video, while a Pakistan Army captive, praising Pakistan's "fantastic tea".
Welcoming the Sri Lankan team, Ghafoor captioned the video clip as, "Welcome Team Sri Lanka. For sure you are as good as your tea. Pakistani tea is ‘fantastic’ too,” after a cricket tour of the Sri Lankan team to Pakistan was jeopardised due to security reasons and the top 10 cricketers from the squad had pulled out from the tour.
Welcome Team Sri Lanka.
— Asif Ghafoor (@peaceforchange) September 26, 2019
For sure you are as good as your tea. Pakistani tea is ‘fantastic’ too.@thiri66 @OfficialSLC pic.twitter.com/xjwMGJhTms
The video of Varthaman had gone viral on social media, especially in Pakistan.
اس دن کے بعد سے بھارتیوں نے چائے پینا چھوڑ دیا گا
— حناء (@HinaKharaI) September 26, 2019
pic.twitter.com/8ipUhHwEpF
Many Pakistani users also joined Ghafoor in ridiculing Varthaman.
— anil (@kumarmahala) September 27, 2019
The Tea is fantastic ..😂😂👇 pic.twitter.com/9rlhfYKCe1
— Zahid Siddique (@ZahidSiddique_) September 26, 2019
Trolling at its highest 😂😂
— Shahjhan Malik (@shahjhan_malikk) September 26, 2019
The tweet has also compelled many Indians to share their piece of mind on the post, which has outraged them.
I am sure this tea too is from our Kashmir only, hard to believe Pakistan can offer anything of its own to anyone, except terrorism!!@OfficialSLC, All the best!!, We pray for you, I hope you won’t encounter historical nightmares in Pakistan!!
— Cdr Aanan, Retd.🇮🇳 (@Veteran__007) September 27, 2019
Jai Hind 🇮🇳
🤣😂 Indian food is fantastic pic.twitter.com/9S77K8Xt7k
— Elixir (@elixiron123) September 27, 2019
Many Indian Twitter users have hit back, asking if it isthe Sri Lankan team's B group players as almost all of the top 10 players had backed out of the Pakistan tour, citing security concerns.
Let's put it this way. 'Welcome Sri Lanka B team for a cricket series which your main team has rejected to participate due to grave issues of terrorism in Pakistan.' Now this sounds fantastic. 😁
— Sudip Dey 🌞 🇮🇳 (@sudip_isbm) September 26, 2019
Is this SL B team or C team . 10 main players have FEARED FOR THEIR LIVES to come to 🇵🇰. 🤣🤣🤣.
— Akhand Bharat (@Chanakya_fan) September 26, 2019
On the other hand SA team is playing a full series in 🇮🇳 without any fear of life 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩.
Yeah with a pistol pointing at you , even 🇵🇰 will say TEA IS FANTASTIC 🤣🤣🤣
Wing Commander Abhinandan was detained by Pakistani forces after his Mig21 was shot down in late February by the Pakistani Air Force over the Line of Control (LoC). He was released a few days later.
A 14 February Pulwama terror attack allegedly carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bombers in which 40 Indian troopers were killed in Pulwama, in Kashmir. India responded with airstrikes against purported JeM terror camps in Balakot in Pakistan on 26 February, and was soon targeted by a Pakistani air raid which culminated in a dogfight.
