Sania Mirza is an Indian icon. Stop insulting her
It is unfortunate that certain political leaders have questioned ace tennis player Sania Mirza's nationality and loyalty to India in the wake of her being appointed the brand ambassador of the newly-formed Telangana State. The puerile attack is motivated by her marriage to a Pakistani. In the first place, Sania Mirza does not become, legally or morally, any less of an Indian by this marriage. Several Indians have married foreigners but they have not ceased being Indians or being loyal to their country. Every time Sania Mirza has done well in tournaments, she has brought accolades not just to herself but to India as well. Her critics, who ridicule her for being the ‘daughter-in-law' of Pakistan, don't seem to realise that she is also the daughter of India — an individual in her own right and a shining example. She is a woman of grit, which was demonstrated when she contemptuously dismissed hardline Muslim clerics who had ticked her off for the ‘short dress' she wore while playing matches. Sania Mirza has every reason to be hurt by the latest insinuations that her critics have been hurling. She has been moved enough to declare that she is an Indian and will “die an Indian”. It is disgraceful that a proud Indian should be compelled by circumstances to even make such a declaration — almost as if not doing so would tantamount to her nationalist credentials being in doubt. One political leader went to the extent of wondering which “side” the tennis player would take in case of a conflict between India and Pakistan! Implicit in the query was not a desire to know the answer, but a prejudged view of the questioner that she would be torn in her loyalty because of her marriage. What gives these leaders, many of whom have done little in public life to be remembered with fondness, the right to question national icons like Sania MirzaIJ
If there is to be criticism, let it be on grounds that make sense and on a premise which is not rooted in a dislike for Sania Mirza merely because she belongs to a particular community or is married to a Pakistani. For instance, it can be asked why the Telangana Rashtra Samithi Government, which has showered largesse (one crore rupees) to Sania Mirza for the brand ambassadorship, has not demonstrated similar zeal in releasing the award money of Rs50 lakh to another daughter of India and Hyderabad, international badminton player Saina Nehwal. The then Government of Andhra Pradesh had assured the prize money after she fetched a bronze medal for the country in the london Olympics, and the Telangana regime will do well to honour the commitment if it does not wish to attract criticism of favouritism. Nehwal is one the country's best-known and most respected sporting icons to have consistently performed well at the highest levels, and her reported hurt at being ignored is justified.
The TRS Government needs to also explain how, when it has the money to pay Sania Mirza — an endorsement which she richly deserves — it can claim to face a cash crunch when it comes to reimbursing fees as part of a scholarship programme, of nearly 39,000 students of Andhra-origin who had done their schooling and college education in the new State. Such conduct will expose the Telangana Government to the charge of partisanship and dent the image of the very State which it so ambitiously wants to project nationally and globally through Sania Mirza.