Shahid Afridi Trolled for Kashmir Tweet, Gautam Gambhir Hits Back

Gambhir slammed Afridi saying that the Pakistani cricketer “is, as usual, celebrating a dismissal off a no-ball.”

Shahid Afridi. 

(Photo: IANS)

Gautam Gambhir joined a slew of Indian social media users who criticised Shahid Afridi on 3 April after the former cricketer called out the UN’s inability to take stock of the bloodshed in Jammu & Kashmir. Gambhir lashed out at the Pakistani cricketer, saying: "Shahid Afridi is, as usual, celebrating a dismissal off a no-ball".

Afridi’s tweet is believed to be linked to an anti-terror operation carried out in the Valley. Security forces said that 13 militants were killed in the operation.

Echoing Afridi’s thought was cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who tweeted against the crackdown on terror groups. "The people of Pakistan stand with the Kashmiris’ democratic struggle for self-determination," Khan tweeted.

Indian Twitter users (including a fake account of Indian captain Virat Kohli) were quick to remind Afridi and Khan about the human rights violations and atrocities perpetrated in Pakistan.

Later in the evening, Shahid Afridi took to Twitter again, talking about human rights of the people of Kashmir.

In three counter-insurgency operations across J&K on 1 April, security security forces gunned down 13 militants, including those believed to be responsible for the killing of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz. The operation also claimed the lives of three army jawans and four civilians in Anantnag and Shopian districts.