Sehwag on Gurmehar: Rape threats from ‘lowest level of life’

Cricketer Virender Sehwag backed Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur on Wednesday, saying the 20-year-old woman had the right to express her views free of threats.

Cricketer Virender Sehwag backed Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur on Wednesday, saying the 20-year-old woman had the right to express her views free of threats.

Delhi University Student Gurmehar Kaur, whose social media campaign against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) (Photo Facebook Profile)

In a series of tweets, Sehwag said his tweet mocking Kaur didn’t mean to bully anyone over their opinion.

“Agreement or disagreement wasn’t even a factor,” he said.

The tweets came hours after the cricketer told reporters his post intended for “plain fun” was misconstrued.

He was the first of a bandwagon of prominent personalities – including Olympic medallist Yogeshwar Dutt and wrestler sisters Geeta and Babita Phogat – who questioned Kaur, the daughter of an army martyr.

Kaur, the daughter of a Kashmir matryr, started a campaign ‘I am not afraid of ABVP’ following last week’s violence at Delhi’s Ramjas College that involved the students’ group affiliated to the ruling BJP’s ideological parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Earlier this year, she posted photos on Facebook holding different placards, including one that said ‘Pakistan did not kill my father but war did’.

But Sehwag posted an image of his holding a placard saying: “I did not score two triple centuries. My bat did.”

Gurmehar left Delhi on Tuesday after receiving a string of alleged rape threats and a torrent of abuse on social media. Delhi Police have lodged a case against unknown persons in the case.