Racism has been a social evil for centuries in our society and thousands of Indians have been at the receiving end of racial discrimination. On Wednesday, Indian opener Abhinav Mukund took to Twitter to speak against the bias after he was abused for his skin colour.
Mukund shared an emotional letter with his friends and followers on a social media platform. In his letter, the Tamil Nadu cricketer wrote that “fair isn’t the only lovely or handsome.”
— Abhinav mukund (@mukundabhinav) August 9, 2017
The southpaw claimed that he had been subjected to a lot of name-calling since his childhood but he always chose to ignore them. He said that it hurts him to see that the rise of social media has led to people getting abused for their skin colour, something they can’t control.
“Stay true, stay focussed, be comfortable in your own skin” is how Mukund concluded his letter.
Mukund, who made 81 in the second innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle, later, clarified that his letter was in reaction to the abuses hurled at him recently and “has absolutely no connection to anyone in the team”.
Guys please don’t turn this into something else,it has absolutely no connection to anyone in the team. It is mainly targeted at people 1/2
— Abhinav mukund (@mukundabhinav) August 10, 2017
Who have been posting abuses about colour and saying absolutely derogatory things about the tone of my skin. That s all !
— Abhinav mukund (@mukundabhinav) August 10, 2017
Please don’t turn this into something political,I just wanted to make a positive statement hoping to make a change. That s all.
— Abhinav mukund (@mukundabhinav) August 10, 2017
The cricketer gathered a lot of support on Twitter.
Read and learn, don’t make it a headline cos its someone’s emotion. https://t.co/AnN9EMofj2
— Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwinravi99) August 10, 2017
Muk on point 👌🏻🙏🏻👍🏻 I love 👶🏾 https://t.co/s6e4Xb5H7t
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) August 10, 2017
Well said ABHINAV 👏
— Manoj Tiwary (@tiwarymanoj) August 9, 2017
Pains to see a statement of this kind from you Abhi. Humans have become racial, You are destined to achieve greatness Darling keep grinding
— Saravanan T (@SaraarjunSt) August 9, 2017
Continue to grind it out in the sun more brother. Don’t ever pay heed to color obsessed freaks. All strength to you
— sathya subramanian (@pasupatirajesh) August 9, 2017
Truly agreeable bro.. here, always Skin comes first rather than skill …anomaly
— Vignesh Raja (@49_Vigneshraja) August 10, 2017
Racial obsession of the worse kind. Far worse than the racial divide, which itself is despicable. Feels fury; no need for sorry for anyone.
— Jose Puliampatta (@JosePuliampatta) August 10, 2017
sad to hear da. Stay focused, let that not disturb you! You know best, we all are proud of you!
— Parasaran Kumar (@paraasaran) August 9, 2017
Perfect.. the obsession with fair skin is something that irks and disappoints.
— Maya (@Sharanyashettyy) August 9, 2017
Feature image: Reuters