Neeraj Chopra won a billion more golds by shutting down hate

Olympic Gold Medallist Neeraj Chopra just won a billion more Golds by winning the hearts of every Indian as he slammed a controversy brewed by the right wing Hindutva groups and rejected the anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan hate constantly peddled by BJP-RSS.

Issuing a video statement on his Twitter handle, Neeraj Chopra said, “I would request everyone to please not use me and my comments as a medium to further your vested interests and propaganda. Sports teaches us to be together and united. I'm extremely disappointed to see some of the reactions from the public on my recent comments.”

He was referring to one of the recent attempts by the right wing Hindutva groups to spread unnecessary hatred towards Pakistani Javelin player Arshad Nadeem based upon a casual statement made by Chopra. In an interview to Times of India Neeraj Chopra said, “The story is that I was searching for my javelin at the start of the final. I was not able to find it. Suddenly, I saw Arshad Nadeem was moving around with my javelin. Then I told him, 'Bhai give this javelin to me, it is my javelin. I have to throw with it'. Then he gave it back. That's why you must have seen I took my first throw hurriedly.”

This statement was taken out of context by the right wing to spread their usual anti-Pakistan vitriol, conspiracy theories and mix communal politics with sports. Several Twitter handles even accused Arshad Nadeem of “stealing” Neeraj Chopra’s javelin and many used the hashtag #JavelinChor.

But Neeraj Chopra has shut down the controversy by clarifying that it is very common for all players to keep their Javelin at the same place and sometimes use each other’s Javelin for practice. “Arshad Nadeem had done nothing wrong, and I am very saddened to see that such a controversy has been created using my statement,” Chopra said in his video statement. https://twitter.com/Neeraj_chopra1/status/1430816302415843331

This hate campaign is only the latest in a series of such social media narratives built by the right wing ever since the Olympic star made India proud by winning the Gold medal in Javelin throw.

The agenda somehow is to co-opt Neeraj Chopra’s talent and sportsmanship and induct him into the BJP-RSS camp, even though he has never made any public statement about his political allegiance. It started with the ANI publishing a column by an unnamed author in which Chopra’s Gold win was credited to Modi’s support. “Gold medallist Neeraj Chopra's bumpy ride to ultimate glory buoyed by PM Modi's support,” read the headline but it did not refer to any specific event or situation which can justify the tall claim. All it did was make a

farfetched connection between a Tweet made by Modi and Chopra’s Olympic success, which is laughable to say the least.

Since then, the right wing groups on social media have been attempting to make Chopra a symbol of their anti-Muslim, anti-liberal hate. Owing to his identity as an upper caste Hindu male they have tried to turn him into a “Hindutva” or “Sanghi” icon as if the two are one and same thing. For some convoluted reasons, his Olympic win has been used to target liberal-secularists by claiming that liberals are unhappy and jealous of his win which is obviously baseless and illogical.

In the face of this blatant attempt to turn him into a pawn in the nation’s political war Neeraj Chopra won hearts for not only rejecting the hate but for also having the courage to call it out as “vested interests” and “propaganda”.

Twitter is now abuzz with several people hailing him for speaking up for a fellow sportsman cutting across politics and religion. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is also among those who gave him a thumbs up for his courage and maturity.