Islamabad: Pakistan will not send any parliamentary delegations to India to protest the 'treatment meted out' to the country's cricketers in the auction for the lucrative Indian Premier League tournament, National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza said on Wednesday.
Mirza made the remarks in the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament after the main opposition PML-N party said its members will boycott all official visits to India to protest the perceived snub of the Pakistani cricketers.
Senior PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who is also Leader of Opposition, said no leader from his party will travel to India with an official delegation till the neighbouring country "changes its attitude" towards Pakistan.
Khan called on the government to boycott all sports activities with India. Khan alleged that India was treating Pakistani players and artists in an "insulting manner" while the government remained silent.
He said India was earning crores of rupees from Pakistan through its films, the screening of which should be banned by the government.
Following Khan's remarks, Speaker Mirza said visits to India by parliamentary delegations would be cancelled.
Diplomatic sources told PTI no Pakistani parliamentary delegation is scheduled to visit India in the near future.
However, some lawmakers from the ruling Pakistan People s Party and PML-N were scheduled to join a delegation of the Election Commission that is to attend the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Indian poll panel next week.
Sources said it was doubtful that the Election Commission delegation will go ahead with the visit.
Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ijaz Butt welcomed the Speaker's decision not to send any parliamentary delegations to India.
"I thank the Speaker and the august House for the solidarity shown with our players. This decision will show the world that we support our national heroes and that we stand together as a nation," he said.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Sports Minister Ijaz Jakhrani were also critical of the treatment meted to the players.
The manner in which the players were "insulted" showed that India is not serious about the peace process with Pakistan, Malik claimed.
Sportspersons are ambassadors of peace and India should have treated them with respect, he said. Pakistan will respond in a befitting manner, Malik and Jakhrani told reporters outside Parliament.
"India or any other country that does not give respect to Pakistan will be treated the same way by us. If there is a desire to improve Indo-Pak friendship, respect should be given to Pakistani sportspersons," Malik was quoted as saying by a TV channel.
Jakhrani also said the whole issue was the outcome of "PCB s weakness and inefficiency".
Twenty20 champions Pakistan were stunned after none of the country's 11 players were signed up during the IPL auction on Tuesday.
The PCB reacted with anger and disappointment, with Chairman Ijaz Butt saying he was "highly disappointed" by the manner in which his players were treated. Butt said the PCB had obtained permission from the Foreign Office and other clearances for the players.
He added that he had asked Sports Minister Jakhrani to speak to his Indian counterpart about the issue.
Pakistan's Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi's manager Umar Khan told a website that franchises were advised not to bid for Pakistani players because they "would not be issued with visas by the Indian government."
He added: "I think the players have been wronged."
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