Bangladeshi cultural adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki has questioned the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) neutrality after it decided to keep Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup matches in India despite security concerns. In a Facebook post on Friday, Farooki said the ICC accepted security-based decisions from India and Pakistan in the past but took a different stance when Bangladesh raised similar concerns. He cited recent reports of mob attacks in India targeting people suspected to be Bangladeshi and mentioned a recent killing in West Bengal reported by The Telegraph of India.

Farooki also referred to Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray’s warning about hosting the Bangladesh-India match in Mumbai and linked it to ongoing anti-Bangladesh sentiment, including the removal of player Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL. He noted that even ICC’s internal and independent security assessments indicated a medium to high risk for the Bangladesh team in India if Mustafizur played.

Despite these warnings, the ICC rejected Bangladesh’s request to move the matches to Sri Lanka. The Bangladesh Cricket Board and government remain firm on their decision not to play in India.