Mirza boycotts Indian tournaments

[Nafees]

India's Sania Mirza says she will stop appearing in tennis competitions in her native country to avoid any further controversial incidents.
The 21-year-old has been at the centre of disputes involving her dress and disrespecting India's national flag.

"Every time I have played in India there has been some kind of problem," said world number 29 Mirza, who will miss next month's WTA Bangalore Open.

"At this moment, I have been advised by my manager not to play."

Mirza revealed she had come close to quitting the game after she was accused of disrespecting India's flag during the Hopman Cup in Australia last month.

She was pictured sitting with her feet resting on a table next to an Indian flag.

Although Mirza said the pose was accidental, a private citizen filed a complaint with a court in the central Indian city of Bhopal under the Prevention of Insult to the National Honour Act.

"I don't think it (withdrawing from the Bangalore Open) was an extreme reaction at all," Mirza told India's NDTV channel. "There is something or the other happening.

"It is not easy to be dealing with stuff like that. I felt great lows in the last few weeks."

Police in her hometown of Hyderabad [in southern India] have also registered a case against her for trespass for filming an advertisement in a mosque.

And Mirza has also angered sections of India's Muslims because of her "indecent" choice of dressing in shorts and sleeveless t-shirts on court.

Source: BBC News

 

[Nafees]

Jaideep Bhandarkar
Tuesday, February 5, 2008 (Hyderabad)
Source: NDTV

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza has made a startling revelation, saying she won't play next month's Bangalore Open in order to avoid controversies.

Sania said that the sports management company that manages her, and is headed by her mixed-doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi, has advised her against playing in India, since she's always more accessible to the media through the mandatory press conferences.

But the Karnataka tennis association, the organisers of the Bangalore open are obviously distraught at finding out that Sania Mirza will be skipping the tournament just because she fears controversies.

The tournament director however said that Mahesh Bhupathi might have given his prot g and client the wrong advice because the best thing to get over controversies is to play the game.

Sania Mirza is the first Indian woman to win an international tennis event. She won the WTA tour's newcomer of the year award in 2005 and she's been the only Indian to reach the fourth round of a grand slam event.

But sadly much of Sania's career has been about the controversies rather than the celebration.

Sania Mirza's success on the tennis courts had been like a breath of fresh air for women's tennis in India after years of under achievement.

But along with the success that the Hyderabadi Hurricane achieved, came controversies galore, many from the religious fundamentalists who didn't think it right for a Muslim girl to play a sport in short skirts.

There have been many protests against Sania Mirza. First it was supposedly the Rahul and Priyanka youth brigade in Hyderabad organising a protest against Sania Mirza.

Her offence was that she posed for a shoe company with a guitar that was painted in the tricolour as her foot was next to the guitar.

That was in 2005 but things in 2008 are no different. This time it was another case of abusing the tricolour after a very misleading photo was taken of the world number 29 in Australia. No wonder then that she thought of quitting tennis all together.

"I don't want to comment on the tricolour case. But if I was not respectful of my country or if I did not love my country, I would not have played the Fed Cup on one leg. But I do not talk about these things. I had offers at the same time to go and earn money somewhere else but I did the right thing," said Sania.

So sadly, Sania's meteoric rise in tennis has coincided with a spate of controversies. Be it the length of her skirts, her playing with an Israeli or even her shooting at the holy Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, there was an objection because women are not allowed in the sanctum Santorum and a hurt Sania issued a public apology.

"All through her career, the media has played its part reporting the good with the bad but perhaps they stand guilty as well for driving her to this stage where she is willing to miss the biggest tennis tournament in the country," said Ramachandra Guha, Writer and Historian.

"Media goes overboard at times but can't live with them and can't live without them," said Vishaal Uppal,Former Indian Davis Cupper.

That media blitz has made her the second most popular sports person in India after the cricketers and brought in the sponsorships as well. Fortunately, none of this has taken a toll on her tennis progress as yet but if the controversies continue, then it could well mean the end of her career.

 

[su-47]

What she wears on court may not be proper according to some fundamentalists, but it is proper according to tennis regualtions. what do they expect her to do, play in a full body suit?

and as for insulting the flag, i dont think she did it on purpose. she must have put her feet up on the table without realising the flag was there. or even if she realised it, she must not have known that putting your feet NEXT to the flag is disrespectful.

i myself have accidently stepped on an indian flag on a table when i climbed on the table to help with hanging some lights for an Indian function. i never meant to disrespect the flag. i just didnt notice it. as anyone who knows me will know, i am very patriotic and will never be disrespectful towards my country. yet i got yelled at that evening. i am sure sania mirza's case is identical.and she didnt even put her feet on the flag.

i dont doubt sania's patriotism and i have no problem with her wearing a skirt or a sleeveless shirt. if anybody has a problem, then they dont need to watch her play. nobody is forcing them.

 

[Flintlock]

I think the lesson learnt from this, is that it can be very traumatic, and distracting for a professional tennis player to get dragged into petty politics.

Deve Gowda can probably live with a dozen cases filed against him....but for professionals who earn an honest living, there should be a little more pride, and empathy.

 

[KENT]

I don't understand why the hell this religious fundamentialist raise fingure over the attire wore by Sania Mirza? Afterall it was sporting attier and there wasn't any intention of showing for sake of public affection. I have failed to understand there are several acteross in Bollywood hailing from Muslim community who sometimes cross the limit of decency when they show themselves in Bold attire, but on that occassion not a single religious fundamentalist utter single words from their mouths.

 

[KENT]

Regarding the disrespect of Indian National Flag, May be or may not be it was accidental, but it doesn't mean that someone should blow such a minor issue out of proporation. There were the occassion during the National days of India when small tricoulours made of plastic as well paper being thrown all over the corner on the street. On the top of that I had saw during the cricketing matches several such sights where Indian fans disrespect our national flag by painting their slogans or form of advertisement over the tricolour, heck they even used to fasten it on their waist. According to Indian Juridiction, as I read sometimes backs, Indian National flag should not be touch to the surface, but nobody bother to adhere to this rule. But our media is like a kind of module which often bluster about unnecessary event like the one we have about Sania Mirza.

 

[Flintlock]

I don't understand why the hell this religious fundamentialist raise fingure over the attire wore by Sania Mirza? Afterall it was sporting attier and there wasn't any intention of showing for sake of public affection. I have failed to understand there are several acteross in Bollywood hailing from Muslim community who sometimes cross the limit of decency when they show themselves in Bold attire, but on that occassion not a single religious fundamentalist utter single words from their mouths.

Its just vote bank politics that all...they know that they can't fight bollywood...Sania Mirza is just a soft target.

If you are looking for logic and coherence from religious fundamentalists, then you can look forever....

 

[salman nedian]

Well just Muslims are not pointing out fingures there are lots of other controversies as well like the Flag Issue.

 

[KENT]

Well just Muslims are not pointing out fingures

It is not muslim, rather disgruntled Muslim clerics who are pointing fingure as they have fed up remaining deprived from getting media attention.

there are lots of other controversies as well like the Flag Issue.

Ok flag issue, pls show me all other controversies.

Regarding flag issue, it wasn't deliberate and sania mirza has express her aplogize to it.