Bangladesh veteran Mushfiqur Rahim raises his voice against racism

Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh cricketer, has voiced his opinions against racism, showing his disliking towards the same. Over the last three weeks or so, it has been a major topic of discussion. Last month, George Floyd’s death in the United States of America (USA) sparked a massive controversy. Floyd was 46 years old and he breathed his last in Minneapolis on May 25.

A police officer was seen, entangling him with his knees, placed on his neck while he was handcuffed. The picture went viral in no time and it furrowed a lot of eyebrows. Several sportspersons have spoken about it including the legendary LeBron James.

Mushfiqur said that he ‘hates’ racism and it’s something which shouldn’t be tolerated by any stretch of the imagination. The Bogra-born uploaded a picture where he was holding a placard, which read, “I hate racism. Say no to racism.”

Here is Mushfiqur Rahim’s Instagram post

Previously, Darren Sammy, the former West Indies skipper, said that he was subject to racism when he was with the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) back in 2014. A post where Ishant Sharma referred to him as ‘Kalu’ also did the rounds on social media. He also got support from national teammate Chris Gayle and former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan.

Sammy, in a series of tweets, urged both the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the other cricket boards to stand against “injustice” of racism against “people of colour”. Kumar Sangakkara, the former Sri Lankan cricketer and president of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) also wrote on Twitter that the incident in the US is “powerful lesson to us all”.

As far as Mushfiqur is concerned, he has been staying at his residence, working hard to keep himself fit. Over the last few days, he has posted videos where he was seen, running on the roads and on the treadmill as well. Recently, Bangladesh ODI skipper also lauded him for his levels of fitness.

Mushfiqur has been one of the vital cogs in the Bangladesh setup. He last played international cricket in the T20I series at home against Zimbabwe. Recently, at Dhaka, he also became Bangladesh’s leading run-scorer in Test cricket, surpassing Tamim’s tally.