A shop owner at Calangute in Goa was forced to publicly apologise and chant “Bharat Mata ki jai” after a video in which he expressed support for the Pakistan cricket team surfaced on social media, a police officer said on Saturday.
The officer said no complaint had been filed. The undated video released by a travel vlogger purportedly shows the shop owner at Calangute in North Goa saying that he was supporting the Pakistan cricket team because it was a Muslim area.
The neighbouring country was apparently playing against New Zealand when the video was shot.
The video shows the vlogger having a brief conversation with the man. The vlogger asks the shop owner: “Who is playing? Are you cheering for New Zealand?” The man replies: “For Pakistan.” The vlogger then asks him why, to which the man responds: “This is a Muslim area.”
After the video went viral, a group of people approached the shop owner on Thursday and questioned him for supporting Pakistan. A video of the group forcing the shop owner to apologise was also shared widely on social media.
The video shows a member of the group telling the man: “This entire village is Calangute. There is no Muslim lane or any other lane. Don’t divide the country based on religion.”
He is then asked to kneel down and apologise to the countrymen. After initial reluctance, the shop owner is seen tendering an apology by kneeling down and holding his ears. The video also shows the group making him chant to “Bharat Mata ki jai”.
Contacted, the local police officer said a group of men forced the man to apologise. “But no complaint has been filed in connection with the incident,” he said. The sarpanch of Calangute, Joseph Sequeira, confirmed the incident, but said no formal complaint had been registered with the panchayat either.
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