While the entire country was busy in the Valentine’s Day celebrations on the 14th of February 2019, Kashmir witnessed the death of more than 40 CRPF jawans. A suicide bomber rammed the SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar- Jammu highway in the Pulwama district of the state.
Following the attack, India is demanding swift action against this horrendous action that shook the entire nation. Indian Sports personalities have also echoed similar sentiments over the incident and are showing immense support.
Indian Sports on Pulwama attack
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
Following the attacks, Indian Cricket Captain Virat Kohli postponed the Indian Sports honours awards. Deeply grieved, the Indian captain had said, “I’m shocked after hearing about the attack in Pulwama, heartfelt condolences to the martyred soldiers & prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured jawans.”
“The 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,” he added.
Sachin Tendulkar expressed heartfelt condolences
Cowardly, dastardly, meaningless…… my heart goes out to the families of those who lost their loved ones and prayers for recovery of those brave hearts in hospital. Salute to your commitment to “Service and Loyalty” @crpfindia!
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) February 15, 2019
Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar called the attack as a cowardly, dastardly and a meaningless one. [Tweet ““My heart goes out to the families of those who lost their loved ones and prayers for the recovery of those brave hearts in hospital. Salute to your commitment to “Service and Loyalty”, Tendulkar said.”]
Gautam Gambhir said that each Indian heart is desperate to settle scores with the terrorists. He added that he stands with the Indian army emotion to emotion and shoulder to shoulder.
Virender Sehwag offered free education for the children of the martyred families
Nothing we can do will be enough, but the least I can do is offer to take complete care of the education of the children of our brave CRPF jawans martyred in #Pulwama in my Sehwag International School @SehwagSchool , Jhajjar. Saubhagya hoga ? pic.twitter.com/lpRcJSmwUh
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) February 16, 2019
Another Indian opener Virender Sehwag offered to take complete care of the education of the children of the martyred CRPF jawans. He said, “Really pained by the cowardly attack on our CRPF in J&K in which our brave men have been martyred.No words are enough to describe the pain. I wish a speedy recovery to those injured.”
Vijender Singh donated his month’s salary
I’m donating my one month’s salary for the martyrs of #PulwamaTerrorAttack and want everyone to come forward and support the families. It is our moral duty to always standby them and make them feel proud of their sacrifices.
Jai Hind ??????#PulawamaAttack #PulwamaRevenge pic.twitter.com/b0oQVkxIRF— Vijender Singh (@boxervijender) February 15, 2019
Boxer Vijender Singh donated one month of his salary to the martyrs. He said, “I’m donating my one month’s salary for the martyrs of Pulwama Terror Attack and want everyone to come forward and support the families. It is our moral duty to always standby them and make them feel proud of their sacrifices.”
Questions over India Pakistan World Cup 2019 clash
Turbanator Harbhajan Singh went ahead and said that India should boycott the World Cup 2019 match against Pakistan to be held in England.
“Don’t play the World Cup match with Pakistan on June 16 – country comes first for all of us and we are all standing with our forces,” he said.
He also added, “I don’t care about losing points as the Indian team is powerful enough to win the World Cup without playing Pakistan.”
‘We had over 400,000 applications for tickets, which is an incredible number. The stadium only holds 25,000 people’
The ICC and the 2019 World Cup organising committee remain confident that the India-Pakistan match will go ahead https://t.co/Um1COw7pBg pic.twitter.com/E2kLF4XisM
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) February 20, 2019
ICC World Cup tournament director Steve Elworthy, during a promotional event in London, said that demand for tickets for the Indo-Pak group league clash is way more than Australia vs England game or the final at the Lord’s.
“That particular game (India vs Pakistan), we had over 400,000 applications for tickets, which is an incredible number. The stadium (Old Trafford) only holds 25,000 people. So there are a number of disappointed people. That’s just locally, but (there is also) the audience globally,” Elworthy was quoted as saying by ESPN Cricinfo.
Many sports personalities including Sania Mirza, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rohit Sharma, Saina Nehwal etc. have condemned the attack.
The Vidarbha cricket team who won the Irani Trophy donated their prize money to the martyrs’ families.
State Cricket Associations removed the posters of Pakistani cricketers
Many state associations across the country have expressed their solidarity for the armed forces by removing photos of Pakistani cricketers from their respective stadiums. The iconic Cricket Club of India (CCI) covered the portrait of the 1992 World Cup winning captain and the current Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The Karnataka Cricket Association, Punjab Cricket Association, Rajasthan Cricket Association and Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association followed suit.
Following a similar move by various state associations of the country, the BCCI on Wednesday removed pictures and memorabilia of Pakistan cricketers from its headquarters. It was done as a mark of protest against the terrorist attack at Pulwama last Thursday, in which 44 CRPF men lost their lives.
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