New Delhi:
Virat Kohli, the Indian cricket team skipper, has been heavily criticised for his ‘insensitive’ tweet during the Pulwama terror attacks which resulted in the death of 42 CRPF personnel. The Pulwama terror attack took place around 2:00 PM on February 14 and with the death toll rising every hour, the anger among the Indian public grew. At 8:01 PM on the same day, Kohli put out a tweet on his official social media handle which read, “Clubs that invoke deep-rooted passion in fans’ hearts. Vote now, guys!†The tweet was apparently sharing the Indian Sports Honours which listed out the nominees for the ‘Club of the Year’ and it included teams like Chennai Super Kings, Real Kashmir FC, Patna Pirates and Bengaluru FC.
This resulted in massive criticism and the tweet was taken down. However, one of the users still had a screenshot of the tweet. At 9:50 AM on February 15, Kohli tweeted his condolences to the Pulwama Terror attack. “I'm shocked after hearing about the attack in Pulwama, heartfelt condolences to the martyred soldiers & prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured jawaans,†Kohli tweeted.
I'm shocked after hearing about the attack in Pulwama, heartfelt condolences to the martyred soldiers & prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured jawaans.
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) February 15, 2019
Paisa hi sab kuch nhi hota Virat
— Aparna 🇮🇳 (@Jayaa_IND) February 14, 2019
Jis desh me rehte ho, iss time uss desh k jawano par tweet karna jyada important tha
Sorry but this is not the right time to post that
Delete kardiya tweet virat ki team nea ab
— Raja â¤ï¸ (@RaghurajPrSingh) February 14, 2019
Ye tweet kiya tha pic.twitter.com/4qfCNgPtWi
Shame on virat Kohli not single tweet about 45 martyer indian army personnel.
— Mukesh Pasi (@MukeshPasi12) February 14, 2019
In the sporting arena, cricketers, wrestlers, badminton players and others have vented their fury on Twitter, condemning the terror attack and calling for the Narendra Modi government to take strict action in eliminating the menace of terrorism. Cricket players like Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Saina Nehwal and many from the wrestling fraternity took to their official Twitter handles to lash out at the attack.
Gambhir, who retired from all forms of cricket in December 2018 and has been vocal on plenty of issues ever since, lashed out at the separatists in Kashmir. “Yes, let’s talk with the separatists. Yes, let’s talk with Pakistan. But this time conversation can’t be on the table, it has to be in a battle ground. Enough is enough,†Gambhir lashed out on his Twitter handle.
Players like Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Shikhar Dhawan offered their condolences to the families of the CRPF personnel who were killed. Saina Nehwal, India’s ace badminton player, was joined by wrestlers like Sushil Kumar, Babita Phogat and Geeta Phogat in expressing their condolences and praying for the soul of the 42 CRPF personnel. Yogeshwar Dutt retweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tweet which said, “Attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama is despicable. I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs. May the injured recover quickly.â€
