Cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who has been of late tweeting a lot about the sacrifices made by India's armed forces, will be paying for the expenses of the children of 25 CRPF personnel who were killed+ by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Sukma earlier this week, ANI reported. The Naxalites, who ambushed the CRPF jawans in Sukma on Monday, were heavily armed, say jawans who survived the attack.
Yesterday, the Kolkata Knight Riders – the team of which Gambhir is captain – on field saluted the CRPF men killed in the Sukma ambush. Earlier this month, Gambhir expressed his anger at a video showing people kicking paramilitary jawans+ , allegedly in Kashmir. Gambhir said that "for every slap an Indian soldier faces…at least a 100 jihadi lives" must be taken.
As he batted strongly for Kashmir, Gambhir said "our flag also stands 4: saffron – fire of our anger, white – shroud for jihadis, green – hatred 4 terror." Gambhir also railed against those demanding "azadi", saying they should leave India immediately. The batsman has of late been tweeting about things not cricket. Last month, too, he spoke in favour of the Indian army, but at the same time defended Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur+ , who had posted a pro-peace message and was not just mocked for it but hounded. There were also rape threats against her.
Gambhir strongly supported Gurmehar. "I have the utmost respect for the Indian Army. Their service to the nation and all of us is unmatched. However the recent events have left me with a sense of disappointment," he said. "We live in a free country where everyone is entitled to their opinion. If a daughter who lost her father puts up posts about the horrors of war with the intention of achieving peace, she has all the right to. 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," he added.
