On the latest controversy sparked by the announcement of his biopic 800, Muttiah Muralitharan issued a statement. “When the civil war first broke out, it was Malayaga Tamils, with Indian-lineage, who were the first ones to be affected. “I know by experiencing the horrors and the pains that are caused by the war. We lived amid a war in Sri Lanka for more than 30 years. And how I managed to join the cricket team and tasted success despite these circumstances is what 800 is all about,” he added. Muralitharan alleged that his statements have been twisted to portray him in a bad light. “For example, in 2019, I had said that the year 2009 was the happiest year in my entire life. But, when people write, they claim that the year Tamilians were slaughtered was the happiest year in my life,” he said.
The civil war came to an end with the defeat of Tamil Tigers in May 2009. “Think from the point of view of a common man. I grew up during wartime. And you never know what happens next. My playmate at school won’t be alive to play with me again the next day. And the war came to an end under such a situation. As a common citizen, I thought about security. And in the last 10 years, there was no loss of life on both sides. And that’s why I opined that the year 2009 was the happiest year of my life. I had never endorsed the killings of innocent people, and I would never do such a thing in the future too,” he said. Muttiah Muralitharan also rubbished the claims that he doesn’t know Tamil. “I felt inferior due to my minority status in the country. That’s a fact and it’s natural, given that my parents also shared the same mentality. And it was through my hard work that I became an indispensable part of the cricket team,” he said.
