Weightlifting
Milind Soman confuses Olympics, but his wife calls fans of Mirabai Chanu 'hypocrites'
Milind Soman's wife Ankita Konwar tweets on Mirabai Chanu's achievements and calls out the hypocrisy of celebrating the achievements of people from the Northeast.
Milind Soman and wife Ankita Konwar
Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu brought pride to the nation when she won the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday in the 49kg weight division. Naturally, after she won the laurel, the country started celebrating her achievements. Social media was filled to its brim with congratulatory messages to her. Photos and posters of Chanu circulated all over the Internet.
Amid the fervour over Chanu, many people have pointed out the hypocrisy over celebrating the achievements of a person from Northeast India. One who stood out was the wife of model turned marathoner Milind Soman, Ankita Konwar.
Konwar lashed out that these athletes are only recognised as 'pride of India' when they achieve something sensational. On Twitter, Konwar called out the fans for their hypocrisy who were cheering for Chanu and further delved into the racism directed towards the people of Northeast in general. She wrote:
If you're from Northeast India, you can become an Indian ONLY when you win a medal for the country. Otherwise we are known as "chinky" "Chinese" "Nepali" or a new addition "corona". India is not just infested with casteism but racism too. Speaking from my experience. #Hypocrites
What did Milind Soman do?
On July 22, wrestler Priya Malik won the gold medal in 73 kg world title at the Cadet World Wrestling Championships in Budapest. However, a post went viral, claiming that Priya Malik has won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
Milind made the same mistake and congratulated Priya Malik for winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics. He tweeted:
"Thank you Priya Malik! #gold #TokoyoOlympics #wrestling welcome to Mt Olympus,"
Soon after Milind's tweet was posted, it went viral with several retweets as social media users pointed out the differences between Olympics and Cadet World Championships.
