Published 17:46 IST, April 21st 2019
‘We better wake up before it’s too late’: Gautam Gambhir, KL Rahul, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammad Kaif, other cricketers react on Sri Lanka blasts
The auspicious occasion of Easter turned tragic with the bomb blasts that killed over 150 persons and injured more than 400 in Sri Lanka. Condolences have been flooding social media and cricketers too poured their hearts out after hearing about the attack. Current Team India members, previous players of the team and ex-cricketers too were heartbroken and angry while expressing solidarity with the families of the victims.
The auspicious occasion of Easter turned tragic with the bomb blasts that killed over 150 persons and injured more than 400 in Sri Lanka. Condolences have been flooding social media and cricketers too poured their hearts out after hearing about the attack. Current Team India members, previous players of the team and ex-cricketers too were heartbroken and angry while expressing solidarity with the families of the victims.
KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Mohammad Kaif, Irfan Pathan, Aakash Chopra, RP Singh were among those who took to Twitter to convey their thoughts about the blasts.
The cricketers wrote they were ‘devastated’, ‘deeply saddened’, ‘shattered’, calling it a ‘brutal act of inhumanity’, ‘dastardly act’. and asking ‘how one human can be so cruel to another’. Terming it as ‘heartbreaking news’, they wrote about a ‘serious challenge at hand’ and that ‘we better wake up before it’s too late.’ They asked the Sri Lankans to ‘stay strong, stay united’ in the time of 'crisis' while expressing their prayers to the affected families. Here's what they posted:
Earlier Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, VVS Laxman, among others too had expressed their thoughts on the shocking incident.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe addressed the media and said 'action will be taken to stop the activity of all extremist groups in the country. Social media would be temporarily banned with 12-hour curfew from 6 pm to 6 am.'
On Sunday, three churches- St Anthony's Church in Colombo, St Sebastian's Church in the western coastal town of Negombo and another church in the eastern town of Batticaloa and three hotels the Shangrila, the Cinnamon Grand, and the Kingsbury were targeted, killing 185 people and injuring over 400, as per reports. There were two more blasts in Dematagoda and Dehiwala in the day, as per reports.
Updated 18:15 IST, April 21st 2019