Former Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir on Wednesday found themselves on opposite sides of a raging debate with one apparently mocking Kargil marty’s daughter Gurmehar Kaur while another coming in defense of her.
Two days after Sehwag mocked Kaur with a placard reading “I didn’t score two triple centuries, my bat did” in response to her old post saying “Pakistan did not kill my father, war did,”, Gambhir put a post of his own today saying “mocking her for it (her opinion) is despicable.”
Gambhir shared a video with a caption- The freedom of expression is absolute and equal for all! High time we learnt that and practised it daily in every sphere of life,” where he slammed people for “ganging” up on her.
The Delhi batsman began by saying “I have utmost respect for the India Army. Their service to the nation and all of us is unmatched,” adding that “the recent events have left me with a sense of disappointment.”
“We live in a free country where everyone is entitled to their opinion. If a daughter who lost her father puts up post about horrors of war with the intention of achieving peace, she has all the right to,” he said.
Emphasising that she is entitled to her opinion, Gauti said, “It is not an opportunity for everyone to show how patriotic they are and gang up on her to mock her. She is entitled to her opinion just as every other citizen is. Everyone may or may not agree with it but mocking her for it is despicable.”
Meanwhile, in a series of tweets today, Sehwag defended himself, claiming that his social media post in reply to Kaur was an "attempt to be facetious" rather than one to bully anyone over their opinion, adding that agreement or disagreement was not even a factor.
“She has a right to express her views and anyone who threatens her with violence or rape is the lowest form of life. Everyone has a right to express their views without being bullied or threatened. Gurmehar Kaur or the Phogat sisters,” he added.
Kaur, 20, had started the campaign 'I am not afraid of ABVP', following the violence at Ramjas College. The campaign went viral and received massive support from students of various universities.
Kaur has been subjected to intense trolling on the social media over her stance against ABVP and a video campaign advocating peace between India and Pakistan.
A screenshot taken from an old video message of her for peace saying “Pakistan did not kill my father but war did” also went viral.
Kaur withdrew from her social media campaign after receiving rape threats allegedly from the members of the RSS-backed outfit.
She is a student of Lady Shri Ram College, affiliated to Delhi University, is the daughter of Captain Mandeep Singh who was killed in a militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district on August 6, 1999, four days after Pakistani troops withdrew from Kargil.
