Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle sent out a strong message amid the unrest in the country with respect to Citizenship Amendment Act. Both protesters and supporters of the Act have taken to streets to voice their opinions and Bhogle stated the government should listen to what the youth has to say.
“I think young India is speaking to us. It is telling us what it wants to be; and that it doesn’t want to be what we are telling it to be,” Bhogle wrote in his long Facebook post. “For many years now, I have been bullish on India. There is a reason. My generation grew up in an India that was still feeling the after effects of being plundered by colonial England. My parents’ generation weren’t just short on resources, they also had their confidence sucked away by a terrible, repressive environment. We were luckier but we still didn’t know what we were capable of.”
To Bhogle’s views, one Twitter user replied: “I can only applaud Harsha for this. His India is broken. No other country’s leader or ruling party in the world is consistently being compared to Nazis. On this issue, we all need to be Harsha. Except for @GautamGambhir . He has chosen to be a figurehead for the party of division.”
https://twitter.com/DennisCricket_/status/1209610682158600193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1209610682158600193&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hindustantimes.com%2Fcricket%2Fmy-india-isn-t-broken-harsha-bhogle-s-strong-message-to-twitter-user-amid-caa-protest%2Fstory-dd1Rz1l5ncVi3gfTInGCPK.html
Bhogle was quick to shut his views down and he wrote: “No Dennis, my India isn’t broken. It is full of vibrant young people doing amazing things too. We are a fully functional, mature democracy. We might voice our dissent, our disappointment at times but we are fiercely Indian. That word you used in comparison…..never.”
No Dennis, my India isn't broken. It is full of vibrant young people doing amazing things too. We are a fully functional, mature democracy. We might voice our dissent, our disappointment at times but we are fiercely Indian. That word you used in comparison…..never. https://t.co/2rTmEJs4dX
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 25, 2019
Bhogle isn’t the only one from the cricket fraternity to voice his opinion amid the ongoing protest raging in the country. Earlier, out-of-favour all-rounder Irfan Pathan opened up on the criticism he received over his remarks supporting Jamia Millia Islamia students.
The former speedster had posted a message on Twitter a day after CAA protesters clashed with Delhi Police in Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. In his tweet, he wrote: “Political blame game will go on forever but I and our country is concerned about the students of #JamiaMilia #JamiaProtest”.
Political blame game will go on forever but I and our country🇮🇳 is concerned about the students of #JamiaMilia #JamiaProtest
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) December 15, 2019
Speaking to Indian Express, the current J-K coach-cum-mentor said that he has the earned the right to speak his mind on issues affecting the people of country.
“Let me start with a personal story. When I went to Pakistan in 2004 for the Friendship tour, I went to a college in Lahore along with Rahul Dravid, L Balaji, and Parthiv Patel. In a question-and-answer segment attended by 1,500 students, one girl got up and asked, almost in anger: why do I play for India despite being a Muslim? I stood up and said I am not doing any favours (ehsaan) by playing for India. It’s my country, and I am lucky, proud and honoured to represent it. It’s my mulk, my country, a place where my ancestors all come from. Everyone in that college clapped.”
“If I can speak like that in Pakistan, in an open gathering, puffing out my chest, then I don’t need anyone’s permission in my own country to say what I feel. I have represented my country. Some people should realise that. When I ran in to bowl for India, I didn’t think I am a Muslim. I am an Indian first before anything else,” he wrote.
