Dipa Karmakar has created history by becoming the first Indian gymnast to qualify for a final round of the 2016 Rio Olympic competition. The entire country supported her even though the time difference between Brazil and India makes it particularly problematic to watch the events live. When news of her qualification came in, Indians took to social media to congratulate her and wish her all the very best for her subsequent rounds.
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Dipa is no doubt a pioneer. She has achieved glory for her country at a stage no Indian has ever ventured in before. The enormity of this fact is clearly lost on Salman Khan who also happens to the Olympic Goodwill Ambassador from our country. The Bollywood actor, who seems to have a taste for incensing his countrymen, has made yet another error which has seen him draw a lot of wrath from people ardently supporting our athletes in Rio.
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At a press conference, Salman Khan referred to Dipa by an incorrect name, calling her “Deepika” instead. A journalist hurried to correct him but the scribe seemed to be as misinformed as Salman Khan himself. The man from an unnamed news house prompted Salman Khan by saying that her name was “Dipti”. The actor took the cue and ended up calling the gymnast Dipti for the rest of the interview.
In a country that has faced much criticism for its obvious neglect of any sport that is not cricket, it is a mark of the sad state of affairs when even a historical event and the woman responsible for it is not given enough importance by known faces of Indian society. Ironically, Salman Khan is the Olympic Goodwill Ambassador for the country and this makes his mistake all the more glaring.
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Commentators have not been far behind. Local Indian coverage of the events at Rio has indulged in a similar slip of the tongue while talking about the 22-year-old Dipa. It seems like even Olympic fame is not enough incentive for mainstream media to give similar importance to a gymnast as is given to major cricketers of the country.
A number of online petitions had been launched following the first announcement of Salman Khan's name as a Goodwill Ambassador. The Bhai of Bollywood, however, proved he was extremely thin skinned when he lashed out at people calling for his suspension from the post. In an interview to the Hindustan Times, he said he found it unfair that out of the three Ambassadors, he was the only one singled out. He pointed out that the other two people (AR Rahman and Sachin Tendulkar) had nothing to do with any Olympic sport either. Similar petitions were launched elsewhere after the controversial and insensitive rape comment he made prior to the release of his film Sultan.
