NEW DELHI: Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan on Tuesday said racism is not just "restricted to the colour of the skin" as he stressed that different treatment to people having different faith is also a "part of racism".
Pathan took to Twitter: "Racism is not restricted to the colour of the skin. Not allowing to buy a home in a society just because u have a different faith is a part of racism too... #convenient #racism."
A debate around racism in cricket kickstarted after Windies all-rounder Darren Sammy alleged racism during the 2014 Indian Premier League (IPL).
On Saturday, Sammy lost his cool as he learnt the meaning of the word 'Kalu,' a jibe which was directed at him during his IPL stint with SunRisers Hyderabad.
Earlier, Pathan said that sometimes, players hailing from South India face taunts when they come to northern or western states to play domestic cricket.
"I have seen that in domestic cricket, some of our brothers who come from South India, when they come to play domestic matches in North or West India, they do sometimes get taunts, generally in first-class matches, you see a smaller crowd and when there is a smaller crowd, there is always one guy who is trying to be a joker, who is trying to be famous, he will just want to direct jibes at players and as a result, he crosses the line," Pathan had told ANI.
"I believe in the society we need to educate everyone, elders and family should teach what is right to say and what's not, we need to value faith and beliefs of others, we can do better by education kids of our generation," he had added.
Sammy has been a vocal supporter of the protests that are currently going on in the United States over the death of an African-American man named George Floyd.
He had also made an appeal to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and other cricket boards to support the fight against social injustice and racism.