'Let's keep them where they belong': Ex-army general counters Kapil Dev's plea to move on with Pakistan

Former Army General KJS Dhillon on Tuesday responded to Kapil Dev's comments about Pakistan, calling the former cricketer's stance a disregard for the harsh realities India faces from its neighbor. "Absolutely disagree with Kapil Dev with utmost & due respect," he wrote on X. "Let us not take this neighbour & big brother thing too far with utter disregard for the ground realities." 

"The ground reality is that this neighbour is a terrorist state & his terrorists are killing our innocent civilians and our security forces personnel are making the supreme sacrifice for decades now. Let’s keep them where they belong & deserve - down there. Period."

On Monday, Dev suggested that the Indian cricket team showed that they were unhappy with Pakistan, and now they should move on. In an interview with India Today, Dev emphasised that the refusal to shake hands or accept the trophy from Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi should not be stretched further. 

"I think when they (team India) didn't shake hands, it was fine. Shaking hands is not a big thing. You already announced you don't want to take the trophy from that man (Mohsin Naqvi). That's also fine. But you can't linger on for these type of things. You have to finish. You have to move on."

"Let the government do that job. Let the politician do that job. Our job was to make an impact or make a dent, which I think the Indian team did it - not once but three times. They have shown that this type of behavior from Pakistan, we won’t like it. But now one has to move on," the former cricketer said.  

Dev acknowledged that no player would want to shake hands with Pakistan under such circumstances, but stressed that the players needed to move past it. He added: "I think definitely a heart in heart nobody wants to shake hands when you are not happy to play with them. Whatever happened, it happened. Let's move on. You played great cricket and played like a champion. That’s more important. As a sportsman, I would say you move on."

He, however, suggested that at some time, both countries will have to talk to each other as they are neighbours. "But one thing everybody has to understand: they are the neighbour and you want to have good neighbours. They can say the same thing, we can say the same thing. The only way forward is you have to have a dialogue."

The controversy began after India defeated Pakistan by five wickets in the Asia Cup final on September 28 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Indian team, however, refused to accept the trophy and medals from Mohsin Naqvi, Pakistan's Interior Minister and the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board. 

Throughout the series, India won all three encounters with Pakistan, but refused handshakes and declined to accept the trophy from Naqvi.