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Journalism of Courage
A day after two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra posted an emotional message on social media defending himself against hate and abuse from trolls, Olympic medal-winning wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt backed the javelin thrower. Neeraj Chopra was trolled for him sending an invite to Pakistani javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem to compete at the Neeraj Chopra Classic event in Bengaluru. But Neeraj clarified that the invitation was sent to reigning Olympic champion Nadeem two days before the terrorist attack at Pahalgam.
Neeraj had also issued a passionate defence of himself and asked trolls to leave his family alone.
“Neeraj Bhai, you neither need to prove your patriotism nor to prove yourself. It is only a sportsperson and a soldier who raise the Tricolour flag on foreign soil and glorify the name of their land. And you are a soldier along with being a sportsperson. These people who speak nonsense are those trivial ideological people who are neither concerned about the country nor patriotism. You are a champion, you are the leader of the nation, keep moving ahead like this. The champion is always the best,” Yogeshwar posted in Hindi on social media.
“There has been so much talk about my decision to invite Arshad Nadeem to compete in the Neeraj Chopra Classic, and most of it has been hate and abuse,” Neeraj had said in a statement on his social media channels. “They haven’t even left my family out of it. The invitation I extended to Arshad was from one athlete to another — nothing more, nothing less. The aim of the NC Classic was to bring the best athletes to India and for our country to be the home of world-class sporting events. Invites had gone out to all athletes on Monday, two days before the terrorist attacks at Pahalgam. After all that has taken place over the last 48 hours, Arshad’s presence at the NC Classic was completely out of the question.”
“My country and its interests will always come first. To those that are going through the loss of their people, my thoughts and prayers are with you. Along with the entire nation, I am both hurt and angry at what has taken place. I am confident that our country’s response will show our strength as a nation and justice will be served,” Neeraj had added.
