Hyderabad: Bengaluru witnessed a tragic turn of events during the celebration of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) victory, when a stampede near the M Chinnaswamy Stadium claimed 11 lives. The incident has created outrage and sorrow across the country. Many are expressing their anger toward the authorities for the lack of crowd control, while some users on social media are unfairly blaming RCB and Kohli for the event.
As the mounting online blame has been increasing, actor and former Member of Parliament Sumalatha Ambareesh has publicly defended Kohli. Taking to Instagram, she expressed her dissatisfaction with those dragging the cricketer's name into the controversy, asserting that the tragedy was a result of administrative failure and not the responsibility of any individual player.
Sumalatha backed a Facebook post by cinematographer Sakti Saravanan, stating, "Absolutely agree with the following post on Facebook by Sakthi Saravanan... To all the morons who are trying to vent their grouse against #viratkohli, using a tragic event to get at him, get a brain & a conscience..and basic common sense if possible. The sole responsibility of Public Safety lies with the State Government & administration, who failed miserably and should be made accountable. Instead, heads are being rolled as scapegoats in an effort to whitewash their crime. Eleven innocent lives were lost only because of the criminal negligence of the Karnataka State Government, and if there's any justice, they should be tried & severely punished for this. Using a tragedy like this to vent at a team or players exposes either your ignorance or petty minds."
She further highlighted Sakti Saravanan's message in her post, which read, "Virat Kohli doesn't deserve the ongoing hatred campaign against him. I'm shocked and honestly saddened to see the amount of anger and hatred being directed at Virat Kohli for the tragic stampede incident during the RCB celebrations. Kohli didn't organise the crowd, he didn't control the logistics, and he certainly didn't intend for any harm to happen. He was there, like thousands of fans, to celebrate a team's journey, to connect with the people who have stood by RCB for years."
The post continued, "Blaming Kohli for what happened is misguided emotion. It was a system failure. Poor crowd management, inadequate safety planning, and a lack of anticipation from authorities. Pointing fingers at one man, especially someone who has given so much joy, pride, and inspiration to this nation, is simply unfair. Let's not turn grief into hate by targeting a player who only wanted to give back to his fans. This is a time for introspection, not accusation. Let's be better. Let's be human."
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