After news of casteist abuse against Indian hockey player Vandana Katariya's family went viral, Indians questioned the silence of other sportspersons on the matter.
Soon after India's women's hockey team lost to Argentina in a semifinal match at the Tokyo Olympics, two men allegedly danced and burst firecrackers outside Katariya's house in the Roshnabad area in a gesture of mockery on Wednesday evening, an official at SIDCUL police station said.
When some members of Katariya's family came out hearing the noise, the two men passed casteist remarks, saying the team had lost because it had too many Dalit players in it, he said.
A man, identified as Vijay Pal, has been arrested and booked in connection with the incident under section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code and the SC-ST Act, the official said.
People across India took to social media to raise their voices and condemn the casteist abuse. Many questioned why no Indian athletes and/or celebrities are condemning the attack on Katariya's family.
"India is a country where Ravindra Jadeja & Raina can take pride in being upper-castes & the whole country, fans, netas, cricketers, etc stand in support with their casteism. But a Dalit hockey star who has to hide her caste will still be abused by UCs & no one will stand with her," Sankul Sonawane wrote on Twitter.
On Friday morning, an old tweet of cricketer Hardik Pandya went viral wherein he had taken the knee to protest the racism against Blacks. Many questioned why Pandya is silent about casteist atrocities back home.
Here's what others are saying about the matter. Have a look.
