Yograj Singh, former Indian cricketer, and father of Yuvraj Singh, has once again stirred the cauldron of controversy by making disparaging remarks against Hindus and speaking of creating fictitious Sikh supremacy. A video of Singh addressing alleged farmers who are agitating against the ‘Farm bills’ has surfaced on social media in which the cricketer who has had a beef for a long time with his own son and wife made objectionable comments about ‘Hindus’ calling them traitors.
Yograj further foul-mouthed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Gujaratis in particular. As a result #ArrestYograjSingh started trending on social media platforms as clips of Yograj’s hate speech went viral with netizens branding his speech blasphemous, inflammatory, derogatory, and hateful.
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“These people would take a u-turn even if they swore on their mothers, sisters, and daughters,” said Yograj whilst referring to Gujaratis.
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Mentioning separatist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Yograj urged the farmers to raise another Bhindranwale amongst themselves. “Every person here is a ‘Jarnail.’ If you want to save Punjab, ensure that power is in your hands. If the power is in your hand, you will see a new sun rising from the land of Punjab,” he said.
Speaking to a local news channel, Yograj Singh continued to vomit his venom when he justified the statements of farmers who had made the ‘Indira thok di..’ comments. When the anchor asked him about the statements made by the farmers wishing the death of PM Modi, Yograj tried to justify them by saying, “As you sow, so shall you reap.”
Singh threatened PM Modi and said the border of Delhi is sealed. “If they open the borders and the situation comes to a clash, I challenge PM Modi to remove CRPF, BSF, Army, and Police and come alone. Then we will see how things go ahead,” they said.
He further threatened, “I want to remind you that Punjabis have conquered Delhi 18 times. It can be conquered 19th time. Don’t push us to that point. The stock of your bullets will burnout, but the Punjabis who are ready to face the bullets will keep coming. If you shoot even a single bullet, the way Mughals were rooted out, the countdown of your government will begin.”
Yograj Singh, who was singing praises of his false bravado was the same guy who was saved by his teammate Chetan Chouhan, a Rajput and Yashpal Sharma during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. According to a TOI report, when Indian cricketers were going to Delhi immediately after the assassination of Indira Gandhi on Jhelum Express, a blood-hungry mob had tried to board the train to find and presumably kill the Sikhs. The Indian team had three Sikh players on board — Navjot Singh Sidhu, Rajinder Ghai and Yograj Singh
“At one of the stations, around 40-50 people entered the compartment looking for people from the Sikh community. We had three Sikh players -Navjot Singh Sidhu, Rajinder Ghai and Yograj Singh – in our team. I vividly remember, Chetan Chauhan and Yashpal Sharma had a heated argument with the mob and once they realised that they were Indian cricketers, the mob got off the compartment,” said former Haryana off-spinner Sarkar Talwar,
Read: The striking similarities between Shaheen Bagh and Farmers’ protests
The report states that Yograj Singh even told Navjot Sidhu to cut his hair, in an attempt to avoid the mob which was after Sikhs.
From the entry of Khalistani elements to Shaheen Bagh’s dadi to now full-fledged hatred for Hindus and Gujaratis—the Farmers’ protest has completely metamorphosed itself into a Shaheen Bagh 2.0 with Yograj Singh being its own Sharjeel Imam. The administration should come down heavily on Yograj for his incendiary remarks which can spark communal discord.