Pakistan star cricketer and former captain Shahid Afridi came down hard on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over atrocities in Kashmir during his Azad Kashmir visit on Saturday.

A video of Shahid Afridi’s speech in Azad Kashmir went viral, in which he called Modi a coward and also criticised him for deploying as many as seven lakh soldiers in Kashmir.

Addressing the locals during ration distribution ceremony, Shahid Afridi said: “I am in your beautiful village, I am very delighted. I was planning to visit you all from a long time. The world is currently infected by such a big disease,” said Shahid Afridi before taking a shot at PM Modi, saying: “But the bigger disease is in Modi’s mind.”

Saj Sadiq, a sports writer, shared the video.

https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1261995259426476032

The former captain said that Pakistan Army has the backing of the 20 crore people of Pakistan. Afridi even went on to express his desire to captaining the Kashmir team in the Pakistan Super League while also claiming that a majority of India’s Kashmir supports Pakistan and its army.

Earlier, he was warmly welcomed on his arrival at Nakyal.

https://twitter.com/TEAM_AFRIDI/status/1261403094635536385

As soon as the video of Afridi went viral, the netizens in Pakistan praised the former captain for his services in this critical time.

But on the other side, the netizens lashed out at Afridi’s close friends from the Indian cricketing fraternity, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh, for their contributions to his charity organisation.

In a tweet, Shahid Afridi said: “It does not take a religious belief to feel the agony of Kashmiris...just a right heart at the right place. #SaveKashmir.”

https://twitter.com/SAfridiOfficial/status/1261340575917387777

Former Indian cricketers Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh criticised the Pakistan former captain over his remarks against Modi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOavNaBX4NU