Once again, India has shown its usual disregard and insensitivity by refusing visas to the Pakistani Scrabble team. Tariq Pervez, Chairman of the Youth Committee and Director of the Pakistan Scrabble Association, stated that the Indian authorities remained silent on the matter and did not respond when contacted. Speaking on a private TV program, Tariq Pervez mentioned that, despite submitting all necessary documents two months ago, visas were held back at the last minute. Some players were issued visas so late that they could no longer participate in the event.
He shared that India did not even issue a visa to World Youth Champion Ali Salman. Out of 20 players, only 6 received visas a day before the event, but due to time constraints, they couldn’t travel to India either. Tariq Pervez, who also serves as chairman of the Scrabble World Youth Committee and the first president of the Asia Scrabble Federation, expressed that this issue will be strongly condemned at the upcoming meeting.
This isn’t the first time India has denied visas to Pakistani players. Recently, the Pakistani team faced visa denials for the Asian Netball Championship as well Additionally, three Pakistani cueists—Ahsan Ramzan, Muhammad Hasnain, and Muhammad Hamza Ilyas—were prevented from participating in Visa issues also prevented participation of the Pakistani team in the IBSF Junior World Snooker Championship.
