Very well written article! My praises to the author. And taking the opportunity I congratulate Sania, her parents, mentor(s)/coach and sponsors! In my opinion this has been a great acheivement, Sania deserves lots of credit but its Smt. & Shri Imran Mirza, the Coach and the sponsor deserves much much more. Sania can take it forward on the platform the team gave her! And I'm sure Indian flag will fly high in days of tennis to come! Best Wishes.
It's heartening to see a reknowned leftist like Bidwai talking about "Marketing gurus.." and "richest Indian Azim Premji". So atleast he agrees that a good amount of Muslims are well to do & enjoy equality in all spheres of Indian life. And that's precisely what BJP says. Muslims have got every thing equally. If they work hard, they can be rich as Premji & as successfull as Sania. As Bidwai himself gives a huge list of rich & famous Muslims. And that's precisely what BJP questions. Why do we need special consideration for Muslims as far as reservations & Haj subsidies goes? If they work hard, nobody including BJP minds. In fact BJP is more likely to accept a nationalist hard working muslim in it's fold then anyone else. The problem occurs when the leftists like Bidwai make a huge issue of muslims being muslims, and treat them seperate. Secularists raise issues only about muslim welfare in elections.And they give a feeling that all it matters in India is Muslim well-being. Also Mr.Bidwai could not give a single example of a successfull muslim from Bengal or Kerela. Thus proving that for a muslim to be successful, he's better off being away from a communist ruled state.
Dear Author: Reading your article it appears that you are one of those prides himself in painting every event with the communal colors. Sania mirza has made India proud. I have been following her like most of country since she equaled Serena in the Australian open, but until now I have not thought of her rise in so much of Hindu verse Muslim light. It is people like you who abuse the gift of writing they have to flare the tensions through such writings and flare up the feelings and tension in the minds of unsuspecting Indians. can you not give her a break and for once think of her (or for that matter any other individual) as Indian first ..I wonder why you should write such a provoking article on Hindu Muslim with her in the middle of it. You are simply disgusting. Vineet
I read this article thinking that it will be all about sania mirza. But to my disappointment it deviates to The importance of being muslim. Where does this hindu muslim issue came from if sania wins hyderabad open ??? If sania wins or if sharukh is a well known star it is proud for india, not an opportunity to write such kind of articles and praise about muslims. We have our honourable president should he be known as muslim president or a great person with vision for our nation. Is there really a need of bringing politics into everything if someone is performing great at theatre or if someone winning laurels for India ? The editor should have atleast a glance on the articles coming on the main page of rediff.
It is one thing to write a social commentary, yet another to comment on an individual, and something quite different to use an individual to make a social commentary.
This article makes the same mistake that many communalists make, to take the acts of the few and apply them to the many. There is one difference between secularists like Bidwai suffer and the communalists: secularists are waiting for any individual Muslim to "succeed" and pounce on that solitary success to build a social theory; communalists are waiting for any individual Muslim "failure". They cannot see the individual just for the individual.
In closing, let Sania Mirza be Sania Mirza. If she wants to be a role model for any community, however defined, hyderabadi, indian, muslim, women, secular, religious, andhra, let as wait for her to speak her mind. Lets not have 50 year old columnists place the burden of their beliefs on the shoulders of an 18 year old tennis player.
Sania, good luck to you and just play tennis and ignore all these people discussing you who know nothing about you at all! God Bless.
I love the upbeat tone in this article. I am totally in consent with the author of this article and it makes me a proud Indian to know that Sania is doing so well in her tennis career.
This is one of the few times that I've read a article which is optimistic and not scathing someone with criticism just to get a few responses.
I wish more authors would follow suit and would write about achievements.
