Pulwama Terror Attack: Virat Kohli announces postponement of RPSG Indian Sports Honours

India is a nation in mourning following the terror attack in Pulwama which killed 42 CRPF personnel. People from all sections of society, Bollywood and Sports have offered their condolences to the families of the 42 soldiers who were killed and many personalities have urged the people of the nation to remain united in a time of grief. Virat Kohli, the Indian cricket team skipper, also offered his condolences and announced that the RPSG Indian Sports Honours, which were to be held today, has been postponed. Kohli tweeted on his official handle which said, “The RP-SG Indian Sports Honours has been postponed. At this heavy moment of loss that we all find ourselves in, we would like to cancel this event that was scheduled to take place tomorrow.”

The Indian Sports Honours is a joint initiative of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group and the Virat Kohli Foundation and there are five categories for the awards. The categories are Men’s and women’s breakthrough of the year, Spirit of Honour, Comeback of the Year, Club of the year and Fan Club of the year.

The RP-SG Indian Sports Honours has been postponed. At this heavy moment of loss that we all find ourselves in, we would like to cancel this event that was scheduled to take place tomorrow.

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) February 15, 2019

Players like Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Ajinkya Rahane, Jeremy Lalrinnunga, Manu Bhaker, Sunil Chhetri, Neeraj Chopra and Dipa Karmakar were some of the big names who were in line for the award. Chennai Super Kings and Bengaluru FC were the major clubs in line for the club of the year award.

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Kohli had been tweeting about the Indian Sports Honours from his Twitter handle but one tweet of his was timed horribly when the grief over the Pulwama terror attack was at fever pitch. At 8:01 PM on 14^th February, 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.

A total of 42 CRPF jawans were killed and dozens of others injured after an SUV with 350 kg of explosives hit a bus carrying the personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday. The vehicle was blown up by an improvised explosive device or IED explosion on Srinagar-Jammu highway in the Awantipora area of the district. After 2016 Uri terror attack, this is considered to be the deadliest terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir in nearly two decades.

HIGHLIGHTS

• A total of 42 CRPF jawans were killed in a terror attack in Pulwama.
• This is the deadliest attack ever since the 2016 attacks in Uri.
• Virat Kohli was also criticised for an ill-timed tweet during the terror attack.