Sana too young, please keep her out: Ganguly
NEW DELHI:Unlike the few Indian cricketers who have spoken up about the government’s Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) and the country-wide protests it has caused, BCCI president and former India captain Sourav Ganguly was forced to take a stand on social media because of a screenshot, allegedly from his daughter Sana’s Instagram account.
The purported post by Sana was an excerpt from the late author Khushwant Singh’s book, The End of India.
“Every fascist regime needs communities and groups it can demonize in order to thrive... A movement built on hate can only sustain itself by continually creating fear and strife. Those of us today who feel secure because we are not Muslims or Christians
are living in a fool’s paradise. The Sangh is already targeting the Leftist historians and Westernized youth. Tomorrow it will turn its hate on women who wear skirts, people who eat meat, drink liquor, watch foreign films, don’t go on annual pilgrimages to temples... kiss or shake hands in greeting instead of shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’. No one is safe. We must realize this if we hope to keep India alive.”
Once the screenshot went viral, Ganguly, ostensibly in firefighting mode, responded from his Twitter handle. “Please keep Sana out of all this issues .. this post is not true .. she is too young a girl to know about anything in politics,” he wrote.
Incidentally, Sana, 18, is of legal voting age in India.
While Ganguly is the most high-profile name from the world of sports to weigh in on the political discourse, he isn’t the only one.
On Thursday, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh retweeted a video of Jamia Milia Islamia student Minajuddin—who lost his left eye in the campus library allegedly due to police brutality—and quoted: “His crime is that he is a human.. it so sad to hear from him what he is gone thru..very sad for what’s happening in delhi this needs to stop.”
A few minutes later, and possibly because of the comments his message received from his followers, Harbhajan took a more neutral tone and added: “All I am saying is maintain the peace..this should stop it’s not doing good for anyone.i am sure there is a other ways to solve this issue rather then being violent.. it’s a request to you all students and police and authorities.”
Meanwhile, former India fast bowler Irfan Pathan not only tweeted his support and concern for the protesting students of Jamia on the day of the clash, December 15th, he also later penned a strongly worded edit in a national daily on Wednesday.
“Peaceful protest in a democracy is a fundamental right. I wanted the attention to go there so that there is no loss of life there, the situation doesn’t worsen. These are kids, our future,” Pathan wrote in The Indian Express.
Aakash Chopra, cricket pundit and former Test bastman, had earlier voiced his criticism as well. “Deeply disturbing visuals from educational institutions across the country. Teary eyed. They are one of us. These kids are the future of this country. We don’t make India great by silencing their voices with the use of force. You’ll only turn them against India,” Chopra had written on Twitter.