Hindu outfit latches on to 'monkey' row
Mumbai's Hindu Janjagruti Samiti is the latest to join the growing list of organisations backing Team India Down Under.
By TNN |
MUMBAI: Cricket lovers may take exception to a player being called a monkey, but monkey lovers are visibly miffed with an Australian magazine’s portrayal of Aussie player Andrew Symonds as Hanuman. Ask the Mumbai-based group, and pat comes the reply that the energetic and revered animal should not in any way be linked to racism.
So, while Lord Hanuman has been in news with the Australian media in the run-up to the Third Test between India and Australia, the city-based Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS) is the latest to join the growing list of organisations backing Team India Down Under. It has launched an online petition against the daily ‘Courier Mail’, the Australian newspaper, for casting Andrew Symonds as Lord Hanuman on its front page.
Interestingly, the Australian media has been very severe on the entire Harbhajan-Symonds episode and has gone as far as calling the Indian cricket board “bullies”. “Bullies prosper and sport suffers,” the Daily Telegraph headlined an editorial describing the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as “the powerful new rajahs of world cricket”.
The HJS is out with an application and an e-protest letter, seeking mass participation in the protest campaign. As soon as one feeds in their name and e-mail address, an e-protest letter is delivered to the editor of the Courier Mail and the Australian and Indian embassies through the HJS’ website. “The HJS has demanded that the said daily immediately withdraw the denigrating picture from its website and other periodicals and tender an unconditional public apology to the Hindu community,” the saffron outfit said, in statement to the media.
Even in Australia, the spotlight continues to be on ‘monkeys’. They have become so valuable that a 19-year old teenager in the state of Darwin even tried to steal one from the famed Crocodiles Park in Darwin. Unfortunately, for him, he was handed out a 3-month imprisonment.
In fact, the United Indian Association (UIA), a body representing various migrant community groups of Indian origin in Australia, and its youth wing, the India Sports Club (ISC), have voiced surprise over the racist connotations seen in the word ‘monkey’. “Considering that Hanuman is one of the revered idols of Hindu mythology and worshipped by millions, it is surprising that it was considered a racist term. Even more surprising is that the word ‘monkey’ is considered by the match referee serious enough to slap a three-match ban on Harbhajan Singh.
Many more unsavoury words exchanged on the field go un-noticed,” the UIA website said after the Harbhajan-Symonds controversy came to light.
Interestingly, over the past few days, thanks to the India-Australia stand-off in Sydney, even social networking sites like orkut and Facebook were abuzz with polls and forums against the Aussie stand on Harbhajan’s alleged racial slur against the Australian cricketer, taking the monkey-business to an all-new level.
So, while Lord Hanuman has been in news with the Australian media in the run-up to the Third Test between India and Australia, the city-based Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS) is the latest to join the growing list of organisations backing Team India Down Under. It has launched an online petition against the daily ‘Courier Mail’, the Australian newspaper, for casting Andrew Symonds as Lord Hanuman on its front page.
Interestingly, the Australian media has been very severe on the entire Harbhajan-Symonds episode and has gone as far as calling the Indian cricket board “bullies”. “Bullies prosper and sport suffers,” the Daily Telegraph headlined an editorial describing the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as “the powerful new rajahs of world cricket”.
The HJS is out with an application and an e-protest letter, seeking mass participation in the protest campaign. As soon as one feeds in their name and e-mail address, an e-protest letter is delivered to the editor of the Courier Mail and the Australian and Indian embassies through the HJS’ website. “The HJS has demanded that the said daily immediately withdraw the denigrating picture from its website and other periodicals and tender an unconditional public apology to the Hindu community,” the saffron outfit said, in statement to the media.
Even in Australia, the spotlight continues to be on ‘monkeys’. They have become so valuable that a 19-year old teenager in the state of Darwin even tried to steal one from the famed Crocodiles Park in Darwin. Unfortunately, for him, he was handed out a 3-month imprisonment.
In fact, the United Indian Association (UIA), a body representing various migrant community groups of Indian origin in Australia, and its youth wing, the India Sports Club (ISC), have voiced surprise over the racist connotations seen in the word ‘monkey’. “Considering that Hanuman is one of the revered idols of Hindu mythology and worshipped by millions, it is surprising that it was considered a racist term. Even more surprising is that the word ‘monkey’ is considered by the match referee serious enough to slap a three-match ban on Harbhajan Singh.
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Many more unsavoury words exchanged on the field go un-noticed,” the UIA website said after the Harbhajan-Symonds controversy came to light.
Interestingly, over the past few days, thanks to the India-Australia stand-off in Sydney, even social networking sites like orkut and Facebook were abuzz with polls and forums against the Aussie stand on Harbhajan’s alleged racial slur against the Australian cricketer, taking the monkey-business to an all-new level.
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