Kumar Sangakkara posts heart-touching message after Sri Lanka terror attacks

It’s a black day for Sri Lanka on Sunday when over 160 people were killed by a streak of terror attacks in churches and luxury hotels in its cities. The gruesome attacks left 400 injured as well while the dead included many foreigners. The attacks that happened when the churches saw assembly of Easter Sunday masses, came just over a month after the twin attacks on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Condemnation for the attacks and consolation for the victims poured in from various quarters, apart from political leaders, the cricketing fraternity was also vocal over them. Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara was also among those who condemned the attacks and he came up with a heartfelt post on his Instagram account.

Sanga’s words of caution at challenging times

He said the “despicable acts of barbarism” left him “shocked and saddened” and asked people to refrain from making impulsive conclusions and also buying conspiracy theories and get into the trap of those who try to politicise the tragedy.

View this post on Instagram

I am shocked and saddened by these despicable acts of barbarism. My heart breaks for the victims and all of you are in my thoughts and prayers. I would like to extend my love and condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives and I wish all those injured a speedy and full recovery. I also wish more strength to the hearts and hands of the first responders and the medical personnel who are attending to the injured and to the security personnel who are trying to bring the situation under control. While we struggle to comprehend the depths of depravity people can descend to, and while we all grieve in unison, we need to find the strength to stand together as Sri Lankans; shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart. Together we can get through. Divided we have but little hope. Even though our hearts are overwhelmed with emotion, it is vital that we force our minds to be rational and intelligent. Do not rush to judgement or conclusions. Let’s give ourselves time to grieve. Let’s give ourselves the space to try and understand the ground reality.  Loved ones have died. Fellow Sri Lankans have died. Guests visiting our country have died. Do not buy into the spin or conjecture or the conspiracy theories. This is not a game. Eschew the efforts of those who shamefully try to politicise this tragedy.  Let the authorities investigate. Let the authorities bring these cowardly terrorists to justice. For us, our focus should be to love and support those who have been affected. To continue to have compassion and empathy for our neighbours. To keep each other safe. To try and ensure our thoughts, words and deeds enable and empower us to lift each other out of this tragedy. To join together and try our hardest to ensure that no such tragedy can ever occur again.

A post shared by Kumar Sangakkara Personal Page (@sangalefthander) on Apr 21, 2019 at 2:35am PDT

“For us, our focus should be to love and support those who have been affected. To continue to have compassion and empathy for our neighbours. To keep each other safe. To try and ensure our thoughts, words and deeds enable and empower us to lift each other out of this tragedy. To join together and try our hardest to ensure that no such tragedy can ever occur again,” read the post by Sangakkara, which though saw quite a polarised discussion among the fans thereafter.

The 41-year-old former left-hand batsman has been one of Sri Lanka’s most prolific batsman with over 28,000 international runs and 63 hundreds. Sangakkara also led his country to the final of the 2011 World Cup held in the Asian subcontinent but lost to Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s India in the final.

Another former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena also condoled the victims of the terror attacks, saying: “While condemning and praying for the lost it’s time for us to stay calm and unite. Proud nation has to be strong!!”

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