CHANDIGARH: A ‘jumla’ (false / empty promise) barb by teen shooting sensation Manu Bhaker directed at Haryana Sports Minister Anil Vij has not surprisingly elicited an outraged response from the aggrieved politician… but little else by way of substance.
The shooter on Friday drew Vij’s attention to a promise he had made to give her a Rs 20 million cash award when she won a Gold medal at the Youth Olympics in October last year. She posted a screenshot of Vij’s tweets, in which he had made the announcement on behalf of the state government, on her Twitter handle, and asked the Minister: “Sir please confirm if it is correct.. Or just jumla?”
Moments after Manu had become the first Indian shooter to win a Youth Olympics Gold, Vij had put out a series of tweets congratulating her and announcing the cash award. “Congratulations to Manu Bhaker for winning a shooting Gold in Youth Olympics. Haryana government will give a cash prize of Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million) to Manu Bhaker on her achievement. Previous governments used to pay Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million).”
Reacting to her tweet, Vij on Saturday slammed the shooter for “creating controversy” over prize money and asked her to focus on the sport. In a series of tweets, Vij wrote that Bhaker should have confirmed with the sports department about the issue rather than going public. “Manu Bhaker should have first confirmed it from the Sports Deptt. before going to public domain. It is disgusting to denounce a State Govt which is giving highest awards in the Country. Bhaker will will will get 2 crores as tweated by me and as per notification at that time.”
Pertinently, while the tweets made no mention of WHEN said Rs 20 million would reach the aggrieved shooter, the minister was quick to assert that the 16-year-old shooter should apologise for her actions. Vij further tweeted: “There should be some sense of decipline (sic) in players. Bhaker should feel sorry for creating this controversy. She has a long way to go. She should focus on her game only.”
On Friday, Manu had criticised the state government, saying someone in the government had been playing games over the prize money that was announced for state’s medal-winners at the Youth Olympics. Manu had also shared an old tweet of wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt in response to the Haryana government’s ruling that athletes would have to deposit one-third of their income to the state coffers.
It is worth noting that when Tribune India contacted Vij on Friday for his reaction to Manu’s tweets, he responded thus: “Sportspersons should contact us for clarification rather than going to social media.” Vij also asserted that “certain political leaders were using unsuspecting sportspersons for their narrow political ends”. About the promised cash award, the minister had told Tribune India: “I don’t know whether she falls within the parameters of the policy. If she does, she will definitely get it.”
