Usman Khawaja says he will fight his ban after Cricket Australia prevented him from sharing a ‘humanitarian message’ of peace amid the war in Gaza.
Khawaja, a proud Muslim, revealed plans to wear shoes bearing the slogans ‘freedom is a human right’ and ‘all lives matter’ during Australia’s Test match against Pakistan in Perth on Thursday.
However, cricket’s governing body has told Khawaja to ‘uphold’ their rules on banning the display of personal messages.Â
‘We support the right of our players to express personal opinions,’ a CA statement said.
‘But the ICC has rules in place which prohibit the display of personal messages which we expect the players to uphold.’
Usman Khawaja has responded to Cricket Australia’s stance on his shoes for the first Test
Khawaja, 36, has since taken to social media to respond to CA’s stance, insisting he will try to gain approval to wear the shoes.Â
‘I’ve noticed what I’ve written on my shoes has caused a little bit of a stir. I won’t say much, I don’t need to,’ he said.
‘But what I do want is for everyone who did get offended, somehow, is to ask yourself these questions.
‘Is freedom not for everyone? Are all lives not equal? To me personally, it doesn’t matter what race, religion or culture you are.
‘Let’s be honest about it. If me saying all lives are equal as a resulted people being offended, to the point where they’re calling me up, and telling me, well isn’t that the bigger problem?
‘These people obviously don’t believe in what I’ve written. It’s not just a handful of people. You’d be shocked about how many feel this way.
‘What I’ve written on my shoes isn’t political. I’m not taking sides. Human life to me is equal. One Jewish life is equal to one Muslim life is equal to one Hindu life and so on. I’m just speaking up for those who don’t have a voice.
‘This is close to my heart. When I see thousands of innocent children dying, without any repercussions, or remorse I imagined my two girls. What if this was them?
‘No one chooses where they’re born. And then I see the world turn their backs on them. My heart can’t take it.
‘I already feel my life wasn’t equal to others when I was growing up. But luckily for me, I never lived in a world where that lack of equality was life or death.
‘The ICC have told me that I can’t wear my shoes on field because they believe it’s a political statement under their guidelines. I don’t believe it is so – it’s a humanitarian appeal.
‘I will respect their view and decision but I will fight it and seek to gain approval.
‘Freedom is a human right. And all lives are equal. I will never stop believing that, whether you agree with me or not.’
Khawaja has won the support of his captain, Pat Cummins, who backed his teammate’s right to protest, as well as the message itself.Â
Khawaja wore shoes which bore the message ‘all lives matter’ during training
The 36-year-old says that he was sharing a ‘humanitarian message’Â
‘It’s one of our strongest points, our team, that everyone has their own passionate views and individual thoughts,’ he told reporters on Wednesday.
‘Chatted to Uzzie briefly about it today. I don’t think his intention was to make too bit of a fuss, but we support him.
‘He said he won’t (wear the shoes)
‘I don’t know if Uzzie was across (the ICC rules).
‘On his shoes were, ‘All Lives Are Equal’. I don’t think that’s very divisive. I don’t think anyone can really have too many complaints about that.
‘Everyone in our team has their own individual thoughts, and I love that. You want everyone to being their own individual self to the team.
‘What was on the shoes, ‘All Lives Are Equal’. I support that.’
