Virender Sehwag apologises after controversial tweet on Kerala mob lynching

Virender Sehwag has carved a reputation for himself as a fearless personality, both on and off the field. During his playing days, he employed an aggressive approach and blazed away. After hanging his boots from international cricket, the Delhi cricketer has taken to commentary and is also an active participant in the social media platforms. He doesn’t prefer to mince any words, an attribute which has earned him criticisms on quite a few occasions.

Recently, he tweeted about an incident where a mentally challenged man was beaten to death in Kerala for allegedly stealing rice from local shops. He tweeted “Madhu stole 1 kg rice. A mob of Ubaid, Hussain and Abdul Kareem lynched the poor tribal man to death. This is a disgrace to a civilized society and I feel ashamed that this happens and kuch farak nahi padta.”

Quite expectantly, the former Indian cricketer was greeted with backlash on the public platform for selectively mentioning names. While there were 16 people who were arrested, Sehwag mentioned names of only a couple of accused. He later and deleted the Tweet and dropped an apologetic message saying that he didn’t use the other names owing to incomplete information.

In the second tweet, he mentioned,

“Non-acceptance of a fault is itself the 2nd fault. I apologize I missed out on more names involved in this crime bcoz of incomplete info & sincerely apologize 4 it but the tweet is not communal at all. Killers r divided by religion but united by a violent mentality. May there b peace”

A sensitive matter

The incident has received criticism from every nook and corner of the nation and has been said to be disgraceful. Meanwhile, the ministry of center’s tribal affairs has asked for a report pertaining to the shameful occurring. Kerala chief-minister Pinarayi Vijayan has also ordered a compensation of INR 10 Lakhs to the victim’s family.

On the other hand, experienced citizens like Virender Sehwag needs to be circumspect and rational while commenting on such sensitive matters. In a country like India, one should choose their words according to a gravity of the situation as it doesn’t take time to spark controversies, especially in the public forum.