The crowd turnout was disappointing in the opening game of the Asia Cup between defending champions Pakistan and Sri Lanka on Tuesday, but with the hosts taking the field it was only a matter of time that the empty stands were filled by the enthusiastic fans. There were around 200 people inside the stadium when both the teams came on for their pre-match warm-up and as soon as the toss took place and Bangladesh were asked to bat, the seats slowly began to fill.
Within an hour the stadium was fully packed with Bangladesh colours. Banners, face painting, flags, placards – nothing was missing. Among many banners one stood out effectively which said “Ban Gunday”. For those who do not know, Gunday is a recently released Bollywood film which misrepresented the birth of Bangladesh as a result of an “India-Pakistan War”, and undermined Bangladeshis in its storyline. In the past few days, it saw wave of protests and furious reactions from the Bangladeshis and it was another form of protest yesterday.
