Athletics Federation issues apology after receiving flak for Hima Das’ English remark

The Athletic Federation of India's (AFI) Twitter handle made a remark on her "not so fluent English" which has landed them at the receiving end of flak on the Internet.

By: Trends Desk

New Delhi | Updated: July 13, 2018 07:39 PM IST

5 min read

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Do you think Athletic Federation of India commenting on Hima Das’ English was justified? (Source: AP)

Hima Das became the first Indian to win gold in an international track event by winning the 400 metre final at the World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland. And like everyone else closer home who has been proud of her victory, the Twitter handle of Athletic Federation of India (AFI) lauded her performance. But while at it, the AFI made a remark on her “not so fluent English” which has landed them at the receiving end of flak on the Internet. “#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!” read the post which lead several Twitter users to ask the question: “How does her fluency (or lack of) in English matter at all?”

This is AFI’s tweet.

Here are the comments’ Athletic Federation of India’s remark on Das’ spoken English garnered.

Meanwhile, responding to Rohith Ram, who goes by the Twitter handle @Rohithp6, AFI attempted to clarify why they wrote that they did about the 18-year-old ‘Golden Girl’ from Assam.

After receiving a backlash, the federation later issued an apology on Twitter.

Do you think AFI’s explanation is justified? Let us know in the comments’ section below.

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