I have no interest in sports. This used to bother me when I was young, not because it felt as if there was something wrong with me, but because it made it harder for me to connect with most of my peers who would froth at the mouth or shudder with excitement whenever a big cricket match or football game loomed on the horizon. Despite this lifelong lack of interest in watching men and women hit balls, kick balls, or throw balls for a living, I was still appalled to read a recent report involving a few sports fans. They happened to be students, and the report maintained that they had been arrested for celebrating the victory of an opposing team after a recent cricket match.

According to the police responsible for these arrests, the students had been guilty of “promoting enmity and cyber terrorism”, which was surprising because this didn’t fit the standard explanation for either accusation. I assumed the police knew best though, given how the force routinely attracts the best and brightest among us, so I knew the students must have done something worthy of being associated with terrorism. Yes, a significant number of us may have been labelled enemies of the state and anti-national elements over the past few years, but this doesn’t mean we should question the police or the government, should it?