Indian wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan, a key member of the World Cup T20 winning team, rebuffed a question on Tuesday about 1983 WC winner Kirti Azad’s objections to the trophy being taken specifically to a Hindu temple in Ahmedabad. Azad’s contention was that this goes against a multi-faith, secular country’s ethos.
Kishan was asked about this as he landed at the Patna airport.
He responded, “Well, we have won so well in the World Cup. What do I say now on what Kirti Azad said?” To another question by a different reporter, he said, “Yes, you are asking such a good question! You should ask about how much fun we had; how we made runs.”
He turned back to a reporter and, speaking in Hindi, said, “You asked a useless (‘bekaar’) question,” then smiled and walked away.
Kirti Azad, who is also a Trinamool Congress MP from West Bengal, raised questions over India’s T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav, coach Gautam Gambhir, and ICC chairman Jay Shah taking the World Cup trophy won on Sunday to a Hanuman Mandir in Ahmedabad.
“Why NOT a Mosque? Why NOT a Church? Why NOT a Gurudwara?… The Trophy Belongs to 1.4 BILLION Indians of EVERY Faith — NOT ONE RELIGION’S VICTORY LAP!” read the X post by Azad.
He said it was shameful that one religion got precedence.
“When we won the World Cup under Kapil Dev in 1983, we had Hindu Muslim Sikh and Christian in the team. We brought the trophy to our religious birth place our motherland India Bharat Hindustan,” he wrote.
“This Team Represents INDIA — not Surya Kumar Yadav’s or Jay Shah’s Family,” he further said, and then mentioned non-Hindu players too make his point.
“(Mohammad) Siraj never paraded it at a Mosque. Sanju (Samson) never took it to a Church… latter had a major part to play and was man of the tournament,” he wrote.
It was on Sunday night that Suryakumar Yadav, head coach and former BJP MP Gambhir and International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Jay Shah, son of Union home minister and BJP leader Amit Shah, visited the Hanuman Temple in Ahmedabad and took blessings with the T20 World Cup trophy in hand.
Azad’s party TMC, ruling Bengal for over a decade, has been at loggerheads with the BJP as state elections are barely a couple of months away. It has accused the BJP of communalising the state’s politics with a Hindutva-centred strategy, while the BJP accuses CM Mamata Banerjee of “appeasing” Muslims instead.
