International football star Mesut Ozil on Thursday, 28 April, condemned the alleged human rights violations being perpetrated against the minority Muslim community in India, calling it "shameful".
The German professional footballer wrote on Twitter, "Praying during the holy night of Lailat al-Qadr for the safety and well-being of our Muslim brothers and sisters in India. Let's spread awareness to this shameful situation! What is happening to the human rights in the so-called largest democracy in the world? #BreakTheSilence"
Ozil has previously played as a midfielder at Real Madrid and Arsenal, but is currently with the Turkish giants club Fenerbahce. The German had helped his country win the World Cup in 2014.
Earlier this month, the Turkish-origin footballer had urged his followers to pray for world peace. "Let’s keep praying for peace in the world – not just in Ukraine, but also in Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and all other places in the world where people are suffering from war #StopWAR #JummaMubarak #M1Ö."
In December 2019, the footballer had posted a poem on social media condemning China's alleged persecution of Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority. His then club, Arsenal, publicly distanced itself from the player's sentiments. The player was subsequently removed from Konami's eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2020 computer game in China.
In February this year, when the hijab row was at its peak in Karnataka, Manchester United player Paul Pogba had shared a video on Instagram of mobs donning saffron scarves heckling hijab-wearing Muslim women in educational institutes.
The visual, shared by the Muslim footballer as an Instagram story, was captioned, "Hindutva mobs continue to harass Muslim girls wearing Hijab to college in India."
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