Regional political party protests against Sania Mirza's marriage with Shoaib Malik - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Activists of a regional political party in Coimbatore on Wednesday held a protest against the much-speculated marriage of Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza with Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik. The marriage was announced on Tuesday and will take place in April. The protestors condemned Mirza's decision to marry a Pakistani cricketer and raised slogans against her, the Central Government and the Andhra Pradesh Government. They demanded the tennis player be deported from the country. They also demanded the federal government to take back all the awards given to her. "There have been reports that Sania Mirza will marry Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, which the Hindu Makkal Katchi, regional Hindu political outfit strongly condemns," said Senthil Kumar, an activist of Hindu Makkal Katchi. "Because we feel that the cricket player basically belongs to a country, which aids and abets terrorism against India. It is still to handover the Mumbai attack accused to India. Moreover, this is an insult to 100 crore Indian people and Muslims living in India," he added. "We also demand that the highest awards such as Padma Shri should be taken back from her immediately and we want to deport her from India." The 23-year-old tennis player was the first Indian to win a WTA tour event in 2005 and reached her highest world ranking of 27 two years ago although she has since slipped to the 92nd spot. Malik, 28, has been fighting a 12-month ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board for poor performance and indiscipline.