Former India cricketers Irfan Pathan and Amit Mishra have been embroiled in a Twitter controversy after Pathan tweeted a personal statement saying, "My country, my beautiful country, has the potential to be the greatest country on earth. BUT," leaving the statement open-ended.
In reply, Mishra filled the blank in Pathan's tweet with, "My country, my beautiful country, has the potential to be the greatest country on earth... only if some people realise that our constitution is the first book to be followed,"
This was not the end of their online spat, with Pathan tweeting a copy of the preamble of the Indian Constitution with the caption, "Always followed this and I urge each citizen of our beautiful country to follow this. Please read and re-read..."
While the context of either of the tweets were not explained, the posts were interpreted by social media users in the backdrop of the violence in Delhi's Jahangirpuri as well as the communal clashes elsewhere in the country.
Many followers of either of the former cricketers slammed Mr Pathan's message, and some dared him to complete the statement. Others expected him to not throw away the goodwill earned in cricket through political statements.
Delhi Police on Thursday confirmed that they had identified suspects involved in the communal clashes in Delhi and were looking into the connections of others. Four teams have been formed to investigate the violence that left nearly a dozen, including at least eight policemen, injured. Nearly 140 people were also arrested in three other states - Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka - in connection with incidents of clashes.
The violence in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri erupted Saturday after a Hanuman Jayanti procession was allegedly confronted by a group of people in front of a mosque. Police said the procession did not have permission and its organisers have been booked.
Pathan is currently a commentator on the Indian Premier League (IPL). Meanwhile, Amit Mishra went unsold at the 2022 IPL mega auction, where he had a base price of Rs 1.5 crore. He was a regular in the IPL and has the third most wickets in the league - 166 - in 154 matches. He also has three hat-tricks in his kitty.
Mishra was a regular for Delhi Capitals, but the franchise opted to go for Kuldeep Yadav and Praveen Dubey among their spin options for the 2022 campaign.