Athletics Federation of India (AFI) was trolled online for highlighting history-maker Hima Das' 'not so fluent' English in an interview. Hima became the first Indian track athlete to win gold at IAAF World U20 Championships
As India hailed athlete Hima Das for creating history at IAAF World U20 Championships, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) picked on her for “not being fluent in English” as she spoke to the media.
On Thursday (12 July), Hima became the first ever Indian track athlete to bag a gold medal at IAAF U-20 event.
She won the 400m race in 51.46 seconds in Tampere, Finland.
AFI’s official Twitter page uploaded an interview of the 18-year-old after she qualified for the final of the race.
The federation wrote, “#HimaDas speking to media after her SF win at #iaaftampere2018 @iaaforg Not so fluent in English but she gave her best there too. So proud of u #HimaDas Keep rocking & yeah,try ur best in final! @ioaindia @IndianOlympians @TejaswinShankar @PTI_News @StarSportsIndia @hotstartweets (sic)”.
speking to media after her SF win at Not so fluent in English but she gave her best there too. So proud of u Keep rocking & yeah,try ur best in final! pic.twitter.com/N3PdEamJen
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia)This tweet did not go down well with netizens. AFI was trolled. It had misspelt speaking as "speking", which was highlighted by Twitter users.
A user named Rohit Ram, rightly pointed out that Hima was in Finland to run and not to display her English speaking skills.
“She has landed in Tampere for displaying her talent in track and not in English😐 Its shame on you @afiindia for what you said🤥,” he wrote.
She has landed in Tampere for displaying her talent in track and not in English😐 Its shame on you for what you said🤥
— Rohith Ram (@Rohithp6)Like him, there were several other angry responses.
Who cares about her English?!!! Its just a language meant for easing communication. She speaks with with her strides. And her speech is pure poetry. Period.
— Monalisa Goswami (@monalisagoswami)Even if you mention, why did you misspell speaking as speking? 😀.
— Hari S V (@harisv1976)This prompted AFI to apologise. This time, they tweeted in Hindi, asking sorry from all Indians.
सभी भारतवासियों से क्षमा अगर हमारी एक TWEET से आप आहत हुए है!असल उद्देश्य यह दर्शाना था कि हमारी धाविका किसी भी कठनाई से नहीं घबराती, मैदान के अंदर या बाहर! छोटे से गाँव से आने के बावजूद, विदेश में अंग्रेजी पत्रकार से बेझिझक बात की! एक बार फिर उनसे क्षमा जो नाराज हैं, जय हिन्द!
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia)Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.