LETTER FROM NEW DELHI

When India and Pakistan face off in cricket, the two nations are playing much more than just a game. Netflix’s documentary miniseries India v Pakistan: The Best of Enemies, released on February 7, looked back on the nationalistic frenzy that can be unleashed by a game between the two countries. Images of jubilant crowds, faces and bodies painted entirely in the colors of their respective teams, waving their country’s national flag…

Many consider the India-Pakistan rivalry to be the greatest rivalry in sports, but the competition between the two enemy brothers is also exacerbated by bitter history, political hostilities and the patriotic zeal of hundreds of millions of supporters. India and Pakistan are the result of the bloody partition of British India in 1947. At the time, some 15 million refugees were forced to flee their homes: a share of India’s Muslim population left the country, and Hindus fled Pakistan. The clashes between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims led to the death of between one and two million people, most of whom died brutally.

Seven decades later, relations between the two neighbors remain fraught. India and Pakistan are still fighting over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, over which they have already fought three wars.

You have 73.38% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.