According to a horse database maintained by the international equestrian federation (FEI), Usman bought a 12-year-old bay-colt named “Here-to-Stay” from Belinda Isbister of Australia in April 2019, and renamed him Azad Kashmir.

In December, Pakistani horserider Usman Khan qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — marking his country’s maiden appearance in equestrian’s individual event. Two months later, Usman’s upcoming presence at the Games has become a cause of concern among India’s Olympics administrators.

The reason is that Usman’s horse, the one he rode to qualify for Tokyo, is named ‘Azad Kashmir’ (Independent Kashmir).

According to a horse database maintained by the international equestrian federation (FEI), Usman bought a 12-year-old bay-colt named “Here-to-Stay” from Belinda Isbister of Australia in April 2019, and renamed him Azad Kashmir. Usman is set to ride the same horse at the Olympics as well.

With India’s Fouaad Mirza also having qualified for the same event in Tokyo, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has sought legal opinion to check if the matter would fall under the purview of the Olympic Charter’s Rule 50 which provides a framework to protect the neutrality of sport and the Olympic Games. Rule 50 states that “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas”.

Naming a horse after a region invaded and occupied by Pakistan in 1947, and which India calls Pakistan Occupied Kashmir — the rest of Kashmir is part of the Indian union — may well fall afoul of that rule.

“Political neutrality has to be maintained at the Olympics at any cost,” said IOA president Narinder Batra. “People can’t be allowed to play mischief at the Games.”

Meanwhile, an official from the Equestrian Federation of Pakistan (EFP) said that if the International Olympic Committee lodges a formal complaint with the body, then it will take the matter up with Usman Khan. “He has chosen the name of the horse and qualified with the same horse, so I don’t think the horse’s name can be changed at this moment,” said an official at EFP.

Asked what would be his federation’s stand if the International Olympic Committee intervenes and prohibits Usman from making political statements at the Olympics,the official said the horse would then participate with its FEI identity, a unique alpha-numeric code given to competing horses, instead of its name.

“If it becomes an issue then we’ll first check if Usman is flexible with changing the name,” the EFP official said. “But then we can always use its FEI identity instead of the name.”