‘Harbhajan Singh will live and die for India’: Geeta Basra on why cricketer supported Shahid Afridi, didn’t respond to trolling

Actor Geeta Basra, wife of cricketer Harbhaja Singh, has responded to the trolling he received after extending humanitarian support to Shahid Afridi amid coronavirus crisis.

Surprised that even in such times “many still have time to find fault in others”, actor Geeta Basra has come out in support of her husband Harbhajan Singh. The cricketer and his former colleague Yuvraj Singh courted controversy after tweeting support to Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi’s call for help for those in need during the Covid-19 outbreak. While Yuvraj cleared his stand, Harbhajan has remained tight-lipped about it.

Harbhajan Singh with wife Geeta Basra.

Ask her why, and Basra explains, “He says he knows what his country means to him and doesn’t want to explain an act done for humanity. He lives for India and will die for India. It’s literally like that. His country will always come first. Whenever he has played cricket, he did it with his heart. And everyone knows what India means to him.”

Soon after Harbhajan and Yuvraj’s tweets, #ShameonYuviBhajji was trending as social media users lashed out at them for helping Afridi. Yuvraj responded to the criticism saying, “(I) don’t understand how a message to help the most vulnerable gets blown out of proportion...”, and Harbhajan retweeted it.

Basra says, “This goodwill gesture was to help Afridi, with whom they have played cricket, and have years of friendship, and he’s trying to do his bit for his country. They tried spreading the words to their fans all over the world, NS inspiring more people to support his good work.”

She continues, “Let’s not bring religion or anything else into this. Even the virus isn’t making any discrimination. They would’ve done the same if anyone from any of the other teams like West Indies or England would’ve sought help,” says the 36-year-old.

On its part, the celebrity couple has been helping in various ways, including distribution of ration to 5,000 needy families in Jalandhar, Punjab. This is one of many other efforts they’re putting to help others.

Commenting on how celebs are also being trolled for highlighting the help they’re extending, as a publicity tool, Basra hits back. “It’s so easy to get into the negative space… With our posts, we’re urging others to help, give out the message that every effort, small or big, counts... there’ll always be a section of jobless people who enjoy finding faults in others. So there’s no point in paying much attention to them. Rather, we want to convey gratitude to all the emergency workers out there.”

Amid all this, Basra shares that the family is enjoying their time together, especially their 3-year-old daughter Hinaya who’s enjoying every bit of being with her parents 24*7. “We’re doing a lot of things together - from early morning prayers to cooking to painting to gardening,” says the doting mother, happy that the planet is now “healing”. “We should have a one-week lockdown every year,” she signs off.