The International Cricket Council (ICC) apologised on Wednesday over a tweet posted from its official handle about Asaram Bapu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the day that Asaram was convicted of rape by a Jodhpur Court.
The tweet originally posted by Alt News founder Pratik Sinha showed a video of Asaram Bapu and PM Modi together on several occasions and their closeness. ICC retweeted the same with the comment “Narayan, Narayan...”.
The tweet was later removed by ICC but not before it could do some damage. Many Twitter users questioned the ICC's stand on Indian politics and who was handling its official Twitter handle. Screenshots of the tweet were shared by many on Twitter. The ICC has now launched an investigation into the matter.
ICC is dismayed at a non-cricket related tweet appearing on its Twitter feed earlier today. We would like to extend our sincere apologies to anyone who was offended during the short space of time it was up. We have launched an investigation into how this happened.
— ICC (@ICC) April 25, 2018
“ICC is dismayed at a non-cricket related tweet appearing on its Twitter feed earlier today. We would like to extend our sincere apologies to anyone who was offended during the short space of time it was up,” ICC said in a tweet after removing the post.
“We have launched an investigation into how this happened,” the world body stated.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also expressed its dismay at the faux pas.
“This is unfortunate that an objectionable post has been attributed to the ICC official social media account. Not done. We did bring up the matter to the ICC's notice,” a top BCCI official said.
Asaram Bapu was convicted on Wednesday by a Jodhpur court for raping a teenager at his Ashram in 2013. Asaram was convicted under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) act and Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act.
Asaram was accused of raping the girl, who was studying at the his ashram at Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh. Asaram had denied the rape charges.
(With inputs from PTI)