Plane flies over Leeds during India-Sri Lanka match with ‘Free Kashmir” & “Justice for Kashmir” banner

July 6: An aircraft with a banner “Justice for Kashmir” was spotted flying over the Headingley ground in Leeds where a cricket match was underway between India and Sri Lanka. India was playing against Sri Lanka in the 2019 World Cup match. Minutes later, another plane carrying a banner, which read “India stop genocide and free Kashmir,” flew over the stadium. It is not yet known who was flying the plane.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has expressed disappointment over the alleged security breach after two different planes with political messages flew across Headingley Stadium during the India-Sri Lanka World Cup clash. This is second such incident in 10 days after Afghanistan and Pakistan fans clashed at the venue after ‘Justice for Balochistan’ banner was displayed by an unnamed aircraft when a match between two countries was underway.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) issued a statement where it said, “We are incredibly disappointed this has happened again. We do not condone any sort of political messages at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. Throughout the tournament, we have worked with local police forces around the country to prevent this type of protest occurring. After the previous incident, we were assured by West Yorkshire Police there would not be a repeat of this issue, so we are very dissatisfied it has happened again.” The ICC had earlier asked all venues before World Cup not to allow any non-commercial planes flying overhead.