Harbhajan Singh offers unconditional apology for insta post featuring Jarnail Bhindranwale
New Delhi, Jun 7: Veteran Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Monday unconditionally apologised for a social media post in which he shared a picture of Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to pay homage to those who died in 'Operation Bluestar' of 1984.
The 40-year-old off-spinner said he posted a WhatsApp forward on the 37th anniversary of the operation without realising that the man in the picture was Bhindranwale.
"I just wish to clarify and apologise for an instagram post yesterday. It was a WhatsApp forward that I posted in a haste and without even realising the content used and what it signified and stood for," he said in an apology note posted on Twitter.
"That was my mistake I accept, and at no stage do I subscribe to the views in that post or support the people whose picture were carried. I am a sikh who will fight for India and not against India.
"This is my unconditional apology for hurting the sentiments of my nation. In fact any anti-national group against my people, I do not support and never will," he added.
Operation Bluestar was an Army operation which was carried out in 1984 to flush out militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Bhindranwale was the leader of that insurgent movement and was killed along with and several other people during the operation.
"I have given my blood and sweat for this country for 20 years and will never ever support anything that is anti-India," Harbhajan asserted.
The veteran has played 103 Tests for India, claiming 417 wickets in them.
My heartfelt apology to my people..?? pic.twitter.com/S44cszY7lh
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) June 7, 2021
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Champions Trophy opening on Feb 16 or 17; PCB hopeful Rohit Sharma will be there
Lahore, Jan 15 (PTI): The opening ceremony of the Champions Trophy will be held either on February 16 or 17 and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is confident that India captain Rohit Sharma will be in attendance at the event.
The PCB source also said that it is awaiting communication from the ICC on the schedule of the customary captains' photo-shoot and the pre-event press conference.
The eight-team tournament will get underway on February 19 in Karachi. However, India will play all their matches in Dubai, starting with the clash against Bangladesh on February 20, after refusing to travel to Pakistan owing to security concerns.
The source said PCB has procured all relevant clearances from its government to promptly issue visas to all captains, players and team officials who will come here for pre-tournament events.
"This obviously includes Rohit or any other Indian team player or official or board official," he added.
Another source confirmed to PTI that the PCB has made it clear to the ICC that the opening ceremony, featuring all teams and their captains, will take place in Pakistan.
"This is in line with the usual protocols and since the opening match is on 19th the opening ceremony can be expected either on the 16th or 17th," the source added.
He said the schedule of the opening ceremony would depend on the warm-up matches list.
The source said that recently three Indian nationals, who were a part of the ICC delegation which came to Pakistan, were promptly issued visas once the world body sent their names to the PCB.
