Suresh Raina salutes Kashmiri pandit for chanting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ at Srinagar’s Lal chowk

India celebrated the 71st Independence Day on 15th August 2017 and almost every cricketer who is active on social media posted an independence message for their fans. Along with the grand celebration at the Rajpath, there were protests in the Kashmir Valley. To maintain peace in the region the armed forces took control of the situation and the streets were all empty.

Srinagar’s Lal Chowk witnessed something extraordinary as a Kashmiri Pandit woman walked out on the streets and chanted “Bharat mata ki jai”. The video went viral on social media and was widely shown on news channels across the country as well. A certain segment praised her for what she did and one among those impressed with what she did was Indian cricketer Suresh Raina.

Raina’s message

Raina shared a video of the lady as she is chanting “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” on Twitter and appreciated her. His tweet read, “#Kashmiripandit lady chanting “Bharat mata ki jai” in Srinagar on #IndependenceDay! She is a brave heart! Salute! #Peace #Love #Safety.”

In the video, the woman can be heard saying, “Bharat mata ki jai! Vande mataram! Aap bhi bharat ke hain. Bharat mata ki jai bolna humara farz hain. (You are also from India. Saying ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ is our duty) Bharat mata ki jai!.”

Raina ignored once again by selectors

The southpaw has been out of the Indian team for a while now and he was once again ignored by the selectors for upcoming limited-overs series in Sri Lanka. He worked hard on his fitness prior to the selection meeting in Netherlands and was seen practising at NCA as well alongside former skipper MS Dhoni. This gave an indication that he might be recalled to the side but that was not the case.

Raina last donned the Indian colours in February in a T20I series against England. Selectors look keen on preparing the team for 2019 World Cup and it looks very tough for him to come back into the side.