Iconic Bluey cricket episode is accused of promoting ‘genocide’ by Muslim poet Omar Sakr

Children's program Bluey has been accused of promoting 'genocide' by an award-winning poet.

Omar Sakr published a poem on Wednesday titled “Bluey in the genocide,” focusing on the show's iconic “Cricket” episode, in which a character's father serves in the Australian military.

The plot revolves around a family of cartoon dogs from Queensland who underestimate the abilities of Bluey's friend Rusty on the cricket field.

Rusty's father is absent from the episode until the end, when he writes a letter to his son from an unknown battlefield while wearing camouflage.

Mr. Sakr, a Muslim novelist, wrote that the episode, which originally aired in June 2022, was fun until he realized Rusty's father was “taking down Arabs.”

The plot revolves around a family of cartoon dogs from Queensland who underestimate the abilities of Bluey's friend Rusty on the cricket field.

The poem is written from the perspective of Mr. Sakr watching the show with his son.

“We watch the cricket episode, All laconic drawls and summer games, a devoted pup learning to play while his father is away,” he wrote.

“His name is Rusty, he's a batting star. My son licks it up, as do I to the end; the scene changes And there's the distant father In battle gear, and I'm learning Even in this cartoon world There's a desert full of dogs Soldiers and guns, and somewhere off screen Arabs are being crushed.”

In a subsequent post, Mr. Sakr took a screenshot of the episode and wrote in the caption that “even in Bluey we are being killed.”

Many people in the comments agreed that the scene where Rusty's father was in the military made them uncomfortable.

'This. Even these little moments our children take in can impact what they consider 'okay' or 'normal,'” one person wrote.

“Will there be an episode where Rusty's dad gets PTSD because of the things he's done?”

Others disagreed with Sakr's take on the episode, with one person noting that linking a children's show to an ongoing war was “in itself problematic.”

'The simple need to link a heartwarming children's show to a war and political statement is problematic in itself. Sympathetic to the cause, but come on,” they wrote.

'The episode shows a boy who misses his father and cricket. Why do we have to make everything negative?'

When 'Cricket' first aired, it received rave reviews from audiences who voted it best series in an ABC poll of 50,000 people in November.

Omar Sakr, an award-winning Muslim poet, targeted ABC's Bluey TV show for promoting 'genocide' after it featured a character serving in the Australian military