New Delhi, March 10 (IANS) Several Opposition leaders on Tuesday expressed support for Trinamool Congress MP and former cricketer Kirti Azad after his social media post questioning the decision to take the T20 World Cup trophy to a temple. Opposition leaders said Azad had raised an important concern and stressed that it was essential to ensure that the sentiments of people from all faiths are respected.

The controversy erupted after Azad, who was a member of India’s 1983 World Cup-winning team, criticised the act of taking the trophy to a temple by cricketer Suryakumar Yadav, head coach and former BJP MP Gautam Gambhir, and International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Jay Shah.

In a post on social media platform X, Azad wrote, “As “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!.”

He further criticised the move, saying it was unfortunate that one religion appeared to be given precedence. Referring to India’s historic 1983 World Cup triumph under Kapil Dev, Azad wrote that the team represented people from different faiths.

“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 birthplace our motherland India, Bharat, Hindustan,” he wrote.

Azad also added, “This Team Represents INDIA — not Surya Kumar Yadav’s or Jay Shah’s Family.”

Mentioning players from different religious backgrounds, he further wrote: “(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.”

Reacting to the controversy, Congress MP Sukhdeo Bhagat defended Azad and said his concerns should be taken seriously.

“Kirti Azad has been a part of our team when we won the World Cup. He is our respected Member of Parliament and he has raised these concerns. Sports should always be played in the spirit of the game, and when the country wins, it is India that wins. It is not the victory of any particular community, group, or individual. That is why I said that the issues he has highlighted are indeed matters of concern. Since the government of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, such incidents have increased. There seems to be an attempt to divide society, where people are being pushed to come forward with separate identities,” he told IANS.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MP, Mahua Maji also emphasised the need to be sensitive towards people’s religious sentiments.

“In our country you can see that politics over religion happens during elections and even in sports. I believe that when people of all castes and religions are involved in sports, whether they are players or spectators, it is very important to ensure that no one’s sentiments are hurt, because these are matters at the national level. In our country, people visit temples, mosques, churches, and gurdwaras, so we should avoid such issues…”

Congress MLA and former national hockey team captain Pargat Singh said sports should remain free from religious divisions.

“There is no need to differentiate in sports, for us every religion is same. I don’t have much background on this, it should be taken to temple, masjids, gurdwaras, churches everywhere. It is better if we keep religion and sports separate.”

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Ashutosh Verma said that while Azad was entitled to his opinion, politics should not overshadow sporting achievements.

“Kirti Azad may have his own stand, as he has been a great cricketer and an MP. I think we should not bring politics into sports. Our players have done exceptionally well – we have become T20 world champions for the third time. They should be congratulated for this. If they want to take the trophy to a temple or a mosque, it is their personal decision. The cricket control Board can do nothing about it.”

–IANS

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