World T20: #ProfileforPeace brings India, Pakistan fans closer

Dubai - Hundreds of Indian cricket fans are putting the Pakistani frame around their picture.

While politicians in both India and Pakistan are busy opening old wounds, cricket fans from the two countries have become healers with their message of peace, brotherhood and love.

Thousands of fans have taken to the social media to prove how politics divide us, but sport unites us. Fans in Pakistan and India have begun changing their profile pictures on social networking site Facebook to promote the message of peace in the two countries.

The online campaign - #ProfileforPeace - is an attempt to put an end to the feelings of hatred that exist between the two countries. This remarkable campaign has seen cricket fans in Pakistan change their profile pictures to support the Indian team. And on the other hand, Indian fans are adding the Pakistan colours to their profile pictures to show their support for the Pakistan team.

This effort is incredible especially when you consider the fact that the T20 World Championship was in the news for all the wrong reasons even before it started as Pakistan's high-voltage match against India had to be shifted from the picturesque Dharamsala stadium to Kolkata's Eden Gardens due to security concerns.

The Pakistan Cricket Board had to wait till the last minute to decide whether to send the team for the mega event or not as some organisations in India even threatened to disrupt Pakistan's matches. In the end though, Pakistan was convinced with the assurance given by their Indian counterparts over security and the team landed in Kolkata on March 12.

But an innocent statement from Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi during the team's first Press conference sparked a huge controversy. Pakistani fans and some former greats hit out at the flamboyant all-rounder for his comments that the Pakistan team at times receive more love from Indian fans than Pakistani fans.

Legendary batsman Javed Miandad even felt Afridi should be "ashamed of himself" for giving such statements in India, but the man famous for his fearless stroke-play soon took to social media to clear the air.


"If we demanded peace instead of another television set, then there would be peace in the world. Alas some journalists are born to deliberately misinterpret an innocent statement. Be positive, be true," Afridi wrote on his official Facebook page.

Afridi also stated that he was just trying the bridge the gap between the two countries. Yes, the 36-year-old captain has never been a politically correct person, but it was wrong to crucify him because of what said.

Now it's good to see the fans from the both the countries hit the politics for a six. Yes, they are ordinary people, but their message of love and peace on social media is quite extraordinary. Even Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO, was moved. "When we designed the profile frames feature, we just wanted to help people show support for their favorite teams or a cause they believe in. But this story shows that the more connected we are, the more we realise that what unites us is more important than what divides us," Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page.

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• Pakistan