England's off-spinner Shoaib Bashir gets visa to travel to India for Test series
London, Jan 24: England off-spinner Shoaib Bashir was on Wednesday granted visa to travel to India for the five-match Test series beginning from Thursday, announced the country's cricket board.
Bashir will now travel to India from London this weekend to join his teammates and can be in contention for an England Test debut for the second match at Visakhapatnam.
"Shoaib Bashir has now received his visa, and is due to travel to join up with the team in India this weekend. We're glad the situation has now been resolved," said the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in a statement.
The delay in issuance of an Indian visa to rookie off-spinner Bashir had snowballed into a major controversy ahead of the first Test in Hyderabad.
England skipper Ben Stokes called the turn of events "frustrating" while a British government spokesperson demanded "fair" treatment of the youngster.
The 20-year-old Pakistan-origin cricketer, who plays for Somerset in the English county, had to head back home from the team's Abu Dhabi training base after a prolonged wait to secure an Indian visa.
"When I first found the news out in Abu Dhabi, I did say we shouldn't fly until Bash gets his visa," Stokes said in the pre-match press conference ahead of the first Test.
"But that was a little bit tongue in cheek. I know it's a way bigger thing than doing that. That was probably just emotions around the whole thing.
"I'm pretty devastated that Bash has had to go through this," he added.
Shoaib Bashir has now received his visa, and is due to travel to join up with the team in India this weekend.
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 24, 2024
We're glad the situation has now been resolved.#INDvENG | #EnglandCricket pic.twitter.com/vTHdChIOIi
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Muslim man assaulted for offering namaz on vacant land in front of temple in Uttarakhand
Rudrapur (Uttarakhand) (PTI): An elderly Muslim man was allegedly assaulted by some people and forced to chant religious slogans after he offered namaz on a vacant land in front of a temple here, police said on Tuesday.
A video of the incident is doing the rounds on social media. In the video, the accused are seen thrashing the man with sticks and hurling abuses at him.
The man, Shahid, a resident of the Resham Bari area, offered namaz during the ongoing month of Ramzan in front of the Atriya Temple in Jagatpura.
Shahid said he has been working near the temple for several days and claimed that the land where he offered namaz is quite far from the temple.
After learning about the incident, members of the Muslim community accompanied Shahid to the local police station and filed a complaint.
They claimed that one of the accused has been convicted in a murder case and currently out on parole.
Temple manager Arvind Sharma said activities associated with any other religion will not be tolerated on the temple land, even if a case is filed against him.
Police reached the spot and appealed to both communities to maintain peace.
Shahid is undergoing a medical examination. Further legal action will be taken based on the complaint, police said.
Municipal Councillor Parvez Qureshi termed the incident unacceptable.
"This matter is extremely serious. Assaulting a person is unacceptable. If anyone had any objection (to namaz being offered), the administration should have been informed. We demand an impartial investigation and strict action against the culprits to avoid a repeat of such incidents in the future," he said.
Congress leader Sofia Naz said the incident is detrimental to social harmony.
"Maintaining law and order in the state is the responsibility of the state government. Violence and forced chanting of slogans in the name of religion are against the spirit of the Constitution. The administration should take immediate action and provide justice to the victim," Naz said.
