INDIA: Former Indian Test Cricketer and Indian Parliamentarian Navjot Singh Sidhu says Amnesty International should keep off the World Cup and stop bothering the Sri Lankan cricket team which is performing well in the West Indies.

Navjot Singh Sidhu

INDIA: Former Indian Test Cricketer and Indian Parliamentarian Navjot Singh Sidhu says Amnesty International should keep off the World Cup and stop bothering the Sri Lankan cricket team which is performing well in the West Indies.

Responding to reports that the Organisation was campaigning during the World Cup against alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka using cricket balls and other related material, an angry Sidhu told the Daily News: "Sri Lanka is my second home.

Sri Lanka has showed everybody how cricket should be played. Sri Lanka knows how to harness talent and be disciplined. They are the number one in the sub-continent. A billion people are hopeful of Sri Lanka's success."

Sidhu also said the organisation's campaign against Sri Lanka shows their pettiness. He urged the organisation not to be jealous but to share the accolades.

"It is like a legless man trying to teach others how to run. I ask them not to spit at the sun. A tree laden with fruits should not be pelted with stones," Said Sidhu.

He said the group should "stick to their work elsewhere without belittling themselves at the World Cup".

Vijay Lokapally, respected Sports Correspondent of Hindu and Sports Star said: "Cricket should prevail. This organisation should not be destructive and try to upset the Sri Lankan team. They are great Ambassadors of Sri Lanka and the game. No one should try to interfere with them."

An editor of one of India's top television channels who did not want to be identified told the Daily News: "Amnesty gets second and third hand information. They get information over the phone. They don't visit any areas of conflict. We have faced this in Kashmir and we have faced it for a long time in India.

They are used to planting information. They try to muddy the waters. Just go to the Internet and see how they misreport and misinterpret. They have their own agenda - after all they are a Non-Governmental Organisation and they need money to survive."