Irfan Pathan found himself involved in an unwanted altercation recently on Twitter after his honest opinion about racism didn’t sit well with some social justice warriors on the short messaging platform.

With respect to the Black Lives Matter movement going on around the world, which was started after George Floyd, an African-American man was killed due to police brutality; Pathan tweeted about racism being a person denied a house/home in a locality on basis of his faith and religion.

Irfan was criticized for the same with many users coming out with other examples of similar discrimination levied on people of different faiths than the one they thought the former India cricketer was implying.

Irfan Pathan questions a Twitter user's mentality after being called the next Hafiz Saeed

Talking to Cricket Next, Irfan cleared some air about the incident and gave his thoughts on how stricter laws were needed to deal with trolls on social media.

“I believe in unity. We are the most beautiful country in the whole world, we have so much diversity. I feel that this the right time for the whole country to be united. I feel there is so much going on, especially the way the media is portraying our country. When I travel abroad and if people say something negative about my country I don’t like that,” he said about his bold, unabashed avatar on Twitter.

“I feel it’s time we have strict rules in place so that no one can come and spread hate, no one should be allowed to have fake accounts because that can have a negative impact on someone’s life. I’ve always said this country is my team India and everyone needs to come together and work as a team in one direction that is to make the country progress and keep the country united,” he further added.

He was then asked about the tweet he posted about a person being denied housing on the basis of religion or faith and called it racism.

He said, “It is not racism but a part of racism. There are different types of racism happening across the world and we’ve seen that when we’ve traveled. We’ve also been on the receiving end and have been a victim of racism. People have called me names because I am an Indian and I didn’t appreciate that.”

He shared the example of his support to Jamia students for which he received a lot of flak.

“When I spoke about Jamia students, many people didn’t like that. And I was very surprised by that because I had only talked about the safety of students, nothing else. I had only raised the issue of student safety, yet I received a lot of flak and it was then that I decided that from now on, I will speak my mind. I will talk about issues and I will try to make people come together at least by my own words and in my own way and there is nothing wrong with it,” he said.

He pointed out that issue was created by fake accounts and said,” Some fake accounts did come after me but those accounts are handled by some people, could be anyone from our country or even someone outside the country. This is why I feel the time has come to have a strict law against fake accounts. They should be banned because they can create a big issue.”

He says that his father’s teachings and upbringing enables him to be so honest and bold about what he thinks is right and standing up for it.

“I was born and brought up in a mosque. My father was a priest, he used to give azaan. We used to sweep the mosque, we used to clean the mosque. my uncle’s house had a single door that used to connect the mosque and the temple. The upbringing I had is all thanks to my father. He didn’t believe in different sects of Islam. He believed that all humans, be it Hindus or Muslims or Christians, they all have faith. If we believe God is one, then we should be one too. That’s the kind of upbringing I’ve had,” Pathan recalls his father’s teachings.

"Insecurities" don't let other cricketers speak on sensitive issues, says Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan, who called time on his career in January this year, also defined what nationalism is to him.

He says,” I believe that if you’re doing your work very very honestly, if you have a good feeling for your country in your mind, in your heart, through your work, you are a nationalist. Not everyone can go and fight on the border. They are the true heroes. Being a keyboard warrior on social media, spreading hate is not nationalism.”

He also revealed his plans on whether he will join politics or not.

“Look, tomorrow if I decide to join politics there is nothing wrong in it. It’s a way of serving the people and giving back to the country. The country has given me a lot. I’ve played for India in the past and I can play for India in another field. So there’s nothing wrong if and when that happens. I have been offered to join by not one but more than one political party in 2014 as well as 2019,” he said.

“Was called by a racist slang during early Baroda U16 days,” reveals Irfan Pathan

He thanked all his fans and supporters for the love and support he has gotten on social media.

He said, “I’ve got an immense amount of love and support from the people. In my heart, I have no regrets and I have no hate for anyone. It is said that if you want to clean the muck, you have to get in there, get yourself dirty. Clean yourself and move forwards. I’ll keep sharing positivity. I know 99% of people love me. And I’m sure the remaining 1% will also stop hating.”