Gautam Gambhir to bear educational expenses of slain CRPF personnel's children
What’s the story?
Putting his thoughts into action, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir revealed on Thursday that he will bear the full educational expenses of the children of the 25 members of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) killed in the April 24 Maoist attack in Sukma.
As someone who is known to speak his mind, Gambhir has been extremely vocal about the plight of Indian soldiers who face immense hardships in their job and he had expressed his shock and anguish after the recent terrorist attacks as well asking the people to spare a thought for the CRPF personnel killed in the attack.
On Tuesday, Gambhir had even posted on Twitter about his concerns for the future of the daughters of the slain soldiers.
Gambhir has now decided to take his commitment to the cause a notch further by pledging to fund the education of the children of all the 25 CRPF personnel killed in the attack.
“The Gautam Gambhir Foundation will take care of the entire education expenses of the children of these martyrs. My team has already started work on this and I shall soon share the progress we have made,” he wrote in his column for the Hindustan Times.
In case you didn’t know...
Gambhir has known to be extremely vocal about his thoughts on issues relating to national security and he had even courted controversy ahead of the release of MS Dhoni’s biopic: The Untold Story by claiming that movies should be made about those people who have done a number of noble deeds for the nation rather than cricketers.
Gambhir had also reacted to the Gurmehar Kaur incident which had landed his former opening partner Virender Sehwag in a spot of bother as well as voicing his opinion when Dangal star Zaira Wasim was targeted for meeting the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.
More recently, reacting to a video that showed CRPF personnel deployed for election duty in J&K being attacked by a number of youths, Gambhir had tweeted that he wanted India to hunt down the terrorists who dared to attack the army adding that Kashmir was an integral part of the country.
The heart of the matter
The shocking act of terror in Sukma had resulted in huge outrage throughout India with celebrities making their thoughts known through various social media platforms. Gambhir was one of the first to react, pondering whether the national really valued the sacrifice made by the security personnel who safeguard the freedom of the general public despite facing a number of hardships.
KKR had sported black armbands in their fixture against Rising Pune Supergiants on Wednesday to condemn the killing of the CRPF personnel in Sukma and it did not come as a surprising revelation to those who know Gambhir when a team official clarified that the gesture of respect had come from the skipper himself.
Proving that his concerns for the personnel were not just restricted to thoughts alone, Gambhir revealed on Thursday that he will be bearing the educational expenses of the children of the Sukma martyrs through his foundation.
What’s next?
The 35-year-old revealed that the Gautam Gambhir foundation has already started work on ensuring that sufficient financial help reaches the children of the slain CRPF personnel and he also added that he will be posting more information about the cause in due course.
Author's take
Gambhir has always known to be someone who played with the heart on his sleeve and off the field also, he is someone who walks the talk. It is highly commendable that Gambhir has extended his helping hand to the children of the CRPF personnel killed in the Sukma attack so that their right to a proper education is not compromised.