in an extremely male chauvinist society (and) unfortunately have to deal
with this as women”…..I have an Indian
passport and am (still) playing for India”…..”I do not know
whether it happens in any other country where you have to keep proving
that you are from that country. Is it because I am married to someone
from another country? Is it because I am a woman?”….
….
There are many different layers of stupidity. You question some-one’s nationality and patriotism, a person who has made India proud on the global stage. You harm relations between neighbors, working against the goals supposedly set by your own Leader. You insult women in general by implying that a bahu (daughter-in-law) will have to change her identity upon marriage.
…….
But let us say all is fair in war (politics). You are advertising the fact that Telengana is a muslim-heavy state (historically the kingdom of Nizam) where you plan to capture votes by pitting the sons-of-soil (that magical word) against the invaders. The reason why Sania Mirza is an outsider is not because she was born in Bombay, but because her ancestors (men) came from Middle-East and Central Asia.
The effect of this (and the forcing chapati down the throat business) is that muslims will never consider voting for the BJP (reason #101). There will be no reconciliation between a party/organization that dreams of being the natural ruling party of India and the largest minority. That makes (politically) very little sense to us.
……
Now consider the fact that Sania Mirza has faced adversity off the court before as well…from muslims!!! Conservatives complained that she wears shorts (which infringes on modesty) and issued fatwas against women playing tennis (or presumably any sport). Sania of course faced down her opponents with grace and determination (just as she is doing now). BJP should be supporting Sania and (Muslim women in general) who would like to throw away the chains. These women can help provide backing for an Uniform Civil Code which is an important political plank for the BJP.
BJP rose to power on the back of Mandir politics. The slogan was “Garv se kaho hum Hindu hain” (say proudly that you are a Hindu). It is time to update the slogan as “Garv se kaho hum Bharat-vasi hain” (say with pride that we are Indians). It is the wise thing to do, it is also the right thing to do.
……………….
Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, a Muslim wed to a Pakistani
cricketer, broke down in tears Friday after being described by a Hindu
nationalist politician as “Pakistan’s daughter-in-law” and unfit to be
an Indian representative.
………..
Mirza, 27, who is married to Pakistani
cricketer Shoaib Malik, wiped away tears as she told India’s NDTV
network she was tired of continually being forced to defend her
“Indianness”.
“I am a very patriotic person that is why I am so
emotional right now,” Mirza, who wed Malik in 2010, said in the
interview aired on television.
In comments reported earlier this
week by local media, K. Laxman, a regional legislator belonging to the
national ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), questioned the credentials
of Mirza to be “brand ambassador” for the country’s newest state
Telengana in southern India.
Laxman was quoted as saying Mirza’s marriage to Malik made her a
“daughter-in-law” of Pakistan, India’s Muslim neighbor and
nuclear-armed rival with which the mainly Hindu but officially secular
country has fought three wars.
Telangana, carved this year out of
the state of Andhra Pradesh “is proud of Sania,” said in appointing her
brand ambassador for the region.
Mirza grew up in the city of Hyderabad in what is now Telangana.
“Fans
across the country don’t think her Indianness has gotten mysteriously
diluted,” because of her wedding to Malik, the Times of India said in an
opinion-page piece.
Mirza, who has played for India at all
major-level sporting events, has been defended by leaders across the
political spectrum, including BJP members who said its party member’s
comment did not reflect its official stance.
Mirza earlier this
month achieved a career-best rank of number five in the world when the
new World Tennis Association doubles chart was released.
“After
winning medals for India after I got married, (I) don’t know why I have
to keep justifying that I am Indian,” Mirza told NDTV.
The latest
incident is seen as potentially further fanning concern among Muslims
and other religious minorities over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu
nationalist BJP government.
The controversy has erupted just days
after some MPs from the Hindu right-wing Shiv Sena tried to forcibly
feed a chapati – an Indian flatbread – to a Muslim restaurant manager
fasting for Ramadan because they were unhappy about food at a government
canteen.
The lawmakers belonging to Shiv Sena, a BJP ally, said
they had not known the canteen supervisor was Muslim and they were
complaining because the bread was so hard it “didn’t even break”.
……
Link: http://www.dawn.com/news/1121562/sania-cries-over-pakistans-daughter-in-law-taunt/
…..
regards