Was neither asked to leave nor deported, says Zainab Abbas

Pakistani sports presenter Zainab Abbas clarified on Thursday that she was “neither asked to leave nor deported” from India following an outcry on her old posts on X – formerly Twitter.

“My daily interactions with everyone during my stay [in India] were kind, cheerful, and with a sense of familiarity – just as I had expected. I was neither asked to leave nor was I deported,” she posted on X.

The post comes three days after she left India, bringing a premature end to her World Cup journey. According to Aaj News, Zainab had been in Dubai for the past two days after she was reportedly given a safe passage by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

As per reports, she left India as pressure grew over a case filed against her for her past social media posts. The account’s handle was ‘Zainablovesrk’ when the tweets were posted and have since been changed to ‘ZAbbasOfficial’.

The complainant had demanded that she should be removed from the panel of presenters over her “derogatory” posts.

Zainab said in her post today that she felt intimidated and scared by the reaction that unfolded online.

“Even though there was no immediate threat to my safety, my family and friends from both sides of the border were concerned. I needed some time and space to reflect on what had transpired.”

She also “regretted” the hurt caused by her old social media posts.

“There is no excuse or space for such language, and I sincerely apologise to anyone who was affected.”

A query related to her sudden departure was also raised during a weekly Foreign Office press briefing on Thursday.

“We believe that India as the host of the World Cup has the responsibility to provide seamless security for Pakistan’s cricket team and our officials who are in India for the World Cup,” FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in reply to a couple of questions.

Baloch went on to add that it was the host country’s responsibility to offer a conducive environment for all cricketing teams including the Pakistan cricket team and other individuals who were visiting India in connection with the tournament.

“Regrettably, Pakistani sports presenter Zainab was intimidated through the registration of an FIR against her on the basis of some attributed tweets made several years ago. Such developments reflect the growing level of intolerance in Indian society and set a wrong precedent in the ICC sports tournaments,” she said.