The great Indian cricketer sometimes referred to as the ‘God of cricket’, Sachin Tendulkar is the latest celebrity to be criticised by Islamists over his social media posts. For Throwback Thursday, he put up an old photograph of himself in front of the Al-Aqsa Masque with the caption ‘Mera Salaam from Jerusalem’ (My salutation from Jerusalem), under Jerusalem Old City, Israel.
The legendary cricketer’s Muslim followers, who preferred that he writes Palestine rather than the name of the Jewish nation, were not pleased with this. They made it known by objecting to the title and vowed not to be his fans anymore. Muslims told him to amend himself and note that Palestine, not Israel, is the location of the city.
A user stated, “I was his huge fan but now I am not. You should have written Palestine in place of Israel. Yet, it’s alright because nothing better can be expected from you folks.” Someone named Ibrahim commented, “This isn’t Israel,” along with ‘Free Palestine.’
Another one asked him, “How he could not know that this is Palestine?” Sernam Mohammed ‘corrected’ him and wrote, “It’s Palestine, dear friend.”
A Muslim travel vlogger ‘informed’ the former Indian cricket captain that he was in Palestine and not Israel. Another reiterated that ‘the city is part of Palestine.’
More responses claiming, ‘Jerusalem is in Palestine and not Israel’ were found in the comments section of the picture.
Notably, actors like Sara Ali Khan and Dipika Kakkar (Ibrahim), cricketers including Zaheer Khan and Mohammad Kaif along with other celebrities have frequently come under the line of fire from Muslims particularly, for partaking in activities they disapprove of.