Virender Sehwag Panned For Tweet Communalising Kerala Tribal Youth's Lynching

Former cricketer Virender Sehwag earned the ire of many on Twitter on Saturday after he posted a tweet that singled out Muslims for the death of an Adivasi man who was beaten by a mob in Kerala's�Attappadi region on Thursday. Sehwag, who has 15.9 million Twitter followers, wrote "Madhu stole 1 kg rice. A mob of Ubaid , Hussain and Abdul Kareem lynched the poor tribal man to death. This is a disgrace to a civilised society and I feel ashamed that this happens and kuch farak nahi padta."

Madhu stole 1 kg rice. A mob of Ubaid , Hussain and Abdul Kareem lynched the poor tribal man to death. This is a disgrace to a civilised society and I feel ashamed that this happens and kuch farak nahi padta. pic.twitter.com/LXSnjY6sF0

� Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) February 24, 2018

The death of Madhu, an Adivasi youth sparked outrage on Friday after photos and videos of him being restrained by a group of men went viral on social media. What incensed people more was a selfie of man smiling that was taken showing Madhu restrained in the background being questioned. Post-mortem report released on Saturday confirm that Madhu died due to internal injuries.

BOOM contacted local police in Kerala. Prateesh Kumar, SP, Palakkad police said "Any attempt to communalise the incident is wrong. There are Hindus also under investigation. The information running on social media is misleading." Twitter users accused Sehwag of cherry-picking the names of the perpetrators even though news reports on Friday indicated that the mob comprised of men belonging to different religions and that the brutal attack was not religiously motivated.

You have missed out the names of Manu and Matachsn in the mob. Wrong to cherry pick and give a communal angle when the attack has nothing to do with a community. You are a national icon sir, as @Ram_Guha has already pointed out, don't fall into communal trap! https://t.co/Hl56S7ZrOu

� Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) February 24, 2018

Cherry pick names from a mixed crowd in Kerala; stay shamefully silent on the rash of hate crimes in your own state of Haryana. Once great cricketer, maybe: despicable human being, certainly. If he has an ounce of humanity left, Sehwag would delete his tweet. https://t.co/2eFBLJRBJa

� Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) February 24, 2018

16 arrested belong to various faiths. This crime is awful enough and killers need severest punishment. Communalising it is unfortunate & unexpected of an icon like Sehwag https://t.co/KdOjOoRnlq

� Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) February 24, 2018

Hi @virendersehwag : This mob had both hindus and muslims. And yes, missed you so much when a all-Hindu Karni Sena rampaged in your Haryana and attacked innocent school children. I condemn this incident, but I condemn your selectivity and dogwhistling more, coward@sanjayuvacha pic.twitter.com/xBX1k6xG5d

� Paresh (@hi_paresh) February 24, 2018

See how this high-class-shameless-idiot is spitting venom on social media quoting a few muslim names about a violent mob murder!! Btw, Mr. I-Bray-4-Hindus, this unfortunate event happened in Kerala (yes, we are all ashamed of it) and police have arrested the culprits in a day! https://t.co/BPDK0UQ58A

� Revathy (@RevathyNS) February 24, 2018

Normal people: Adivasi youth murdered by a group of douchebags.

Virender 'Sanghi'wag: Mob of Ubaid,Hussain and Kareem lynched 'Madhu'. https://t.co/kuL9i982VS � Abijith Venu (@comabijith) February 24, 2018

Meanwhile, the former cricketer has apologised on Twitter, though he refused to accept that his original tweet was communal in nature.

Non acceptance of a fault is itself a 2nd fault.I apologise I missed out on more names involved in this crime bcoz of incomplete info & sincerely apologise 4 it but the tweet is not communal at all.Killers r divided by religion but united by a violent mentality. May there b peace https://t.co/2ucRSInc96

� Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) February 24, 2018

The Indian Express reported�

"According to the FIR registered at Agali police station, a group of seven local residents�cornered Madhu inside the forest nearby, detained him at a bus shelter in Mukkali and informed police. It stated that when police arrived, Hussain Muhammed, Manu Damodaran, Abdul Rahman, Abdul Latheef, Abdul Kareem, A P Ummer and Mathachan Joseph pushed Madhu into the jeep along with a bag of rice, claiming that he had stolen it. The FIR stated that when police were taking Madhu for a medical examination before registering his arrest, he vomited and collapsed inside the jeep. He was declared dead on arrival at the Agali hospital, it said."

On Saturday, news reports stated that the police had arrested two men�- K Hussain and PP Abdul Kareem. Virender Sehwag's tweet has received over 19,000 Likes. Moreover, it has been copied multiple times and tweeted giving it a communal spin. Sample the tweets below.

Madhu stole 1 kg rice. A mob of Ubaid , Hussain and Abdul Kareem lynched the poor tribal man to death. This is a disgrace to a civilised society and I feel ashamed that this happens and kuch farak nahi padta.shame on ISIS_communist ,ISIS_LIBERALS

� ISIS � Communists= JNU terrorist Comredes (@NaturalJUSTICE_) February 24, 2018

Islam is again going to be in danger

Madhu stole 1 kg rice. A mob of Ubaid , Hussain and Abdul Kareem lynched the poor tribal man to death. This is a disgrace to a civilised society and I feel ashamed that this happens and kuch farak nahi padta. pic.twitter.com/lGdZ1jxaSx � @$|-|-/-/@|-|� $�|-|H@ (@BoseBhagatAzad) February 24, 2018

@SanjayAzadSln@ashutosh83B

Shantipriy dharm je logo ka karnama Madhu stole 1 kg rice. A mob of Ubaid , Hussain and Abdul Kareem lynched the poor tribal man to death. This is a disgrace to a civilised society and I feel ashamed that this happens and kuch farak nahi padta. � rocky (@rocky76768434) February 24, 2018