Indian Cricket is evolving and growing at a rapid pace. Lately, team India has been on the roll of creating new milestones. Recently, after defeating Sri Lanka and New Zealand, the team is on to conquering the final spot at the World Test Championship. This year is also the year of the ODI Asia Cup and ODI World Cup where the two shining stars have erupted as a storm to be reckoned with.
Image Courtesy: India.com
We are talking about the two pacers Umran Malik and Md Siraj, who have been the talk of the town for their impressive performance in the last few tourneys. Usually, they make it to the headlines for blowing the batsmen’s stumps away but this time they have landed themselves in trouble. Nothing new for the country but Hail Hindutva Propaganda!
As Team India headed to the Nagpur venue to begin their tourney against Team Australia, the players were welcomed at the hotel. As the players enter the premises, a woman can be seen offering Tilak to the players as a goodwill gesture but Umran and Siraj refused to put Tilak. One can question the two for the gesture but why should that even be initiated?
This event was brought to light by Suresh Chavhanke from Sudarshan News.
मोहम्मद सिराज और उमरान मलिक ने स्वागत में माथे पर टीका नहीं लगवाया। वह पाकिस्तान नही हिंदुस्थानी टीम के खिलाडी हैं। अंतरराष्ट्रीय क्रिकेटर बनने के बाद भी वह अपने धर्म के प्रति कट्टर हैं। #Jago
pic.twitter.com/1sYHVlTJl1— Suresh Chavhanke “Sudarshan News” (@SureshChavhanke) February 3, 2023
Is Tilak A National Ritual For One To Prove Their Nationality?
A ‘Tilak’ or ‘Tika’ complemented with rice is a distinctive spot of coloured powder or paste worn on the forehead by Hindu men and women as a religious symbol’. Tika is a symbol of purity. The tilak is of great spiritual consequence to Hindus as they offer this power to honour God and apply it in return on their forehead as a red dot after visiting temples.
Image Courtesy: Srichakra
Bollywood movies may have glorified Tilak, but it’s not a law of the land. One needs to reflect if they entertain such an ideology as a religion translates to a sense of identity which further establishes a sense of peace and harmony. While being blinded by a personal ideology can roadblock one’s thought process, we need to take into consideration that Umran and Siraj belong to a different religious identity and if they do not want the Tilak to be applied, it should be not a matter of concern to anyone.
Cricketer #UmranMalik and #MohammedSiraj refused to tilak while being welcomed at a hotel.#RipLegend #PakistanBankrupt #BCCI #INDvsAUS #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/B23SrdRRfZ
— Anveshka Das (@AnveshkaD) February 3, 2023
While we can see Twitter divided, it was good to see many align with the pacers and respect their decision. As various other issues can be brought to light and debated, many still choose to align themselves with spreading propaganda. This trend doesn’t seem to find a conclusion and this calls for self-reflection. There is no official statement from anyone involved and hope it stays that way. Hence, we await Australia’s tour of India, you can catch the live action from the 9th of February, and cheer for our Men in Blue.
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Mohammad Siraj and Umran Malik Refuse Apply ‘Tilak’ : Social Media Reacts!
