Mirza is fighting to prove her patriotism; Nehwal disillusioned by broken promise.
By Akanksha Warrier
MUMBAI: India sure knows how to treat its top sportswomen – poorly, that is. Take the case of Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal, for instance.
Mirza, the only Indian woman to make an impression and win titles in the international tennis arena, broke down on national television, during an interview with NDTV. She was defending herself as being truly a patriotic Indian, after being branded as a traitor, and taunted by a BJP politician as ‘The daughter-in-law of Pakistan’ for marrying a Pakistani – the cricket player Shoaib Akhtar.
Mirza was recently announced as the brand ambassador of the new state of Telangana. In addition to that, she also received a grant of one crore INR towards her tennis coaching and to meet expenses for the US open. She recently entered the top five in doubles in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings for the first time in her career.
The Telengana government, however, received a lot of flak for their selection, from the opposition, on account of her marriage to Malik, but has regardless strongly defended their decision stating that she is a gifted player and a suitable choice as the ambassador of the state.
Mirza has reacted strongly to the political war over her appointment. She released a statement saying the allegations of her being an outsider are offensive to her family who have been living in Hyderabad for over a century and that it is unfair that she has to assert her Indian-ness.
In an interview to NDTV, where she broke down, Mirza said: “After playing for the country for as many years, after saying time and again that I have an Indian passport, after winning medals for India after I got married, don’t know why I have to keep justifying that I am Indian.”
She added: “If someone is going to question my roots and question my Indian-ness, I will not let that happen,” and remarked, “Am too strong to let people like this break me.”
Her anguish was there for all to see when she said: “I don’t know why I am picked on. I don’t know why I have to justify that I am more patriotic, why I have to act like I have to slit my wrist to prove my patriotism.”
Meanwhile, India’s badminton champion Saina Nehwal has caused a stir too, exposing promises not kept by the state government of Andhra Pradesh.
Nehwal tweeted: “I am happy to know that sania mirza has become the brand ambassador of telangana and I am proud of telangana but I am very hurt and sad that I have still not received the cash award from my state for the Olympic bronze medal that I won for my country.”
After the 2012 Olympic win, the Hyderabadi player was promised a cash prize of 50 lakhs INR by the then Andhra Pradesh state government, which she is yet to receive.
Nehwal is the first Indian player to have won a medal in badminton in the Olympics and is currently ranked number 3rd in the world as per the latest international rankings.
1 Comment
What an apt article