Shooter Manu Bhaker, who won a gold medal at the 10m Air Pistol event during 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast, Australia, clarified a day after a photo of her sitting on the floor during a feliciation ceremony in Haryana went viral that she did so out of respect for the elders.
Times Now ‘broke’ the news that Manu Bhaker was forced to sit on the floor at a felicitation ceremony ‘in that particular place’ (also known as Charka Dadri in Haryana).
#CWG2018 Gold Medalist Manu Bhaker shamed in Haryana. The 16-year-old was called for a felicitation ceremony but later was made to sit on the ground after VVIPs arrived | #MedalistShownTheFloor pic.twitter.com/cLBQcgjy4c
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) April 17, 2018
The ‘absolute shocker from Haryana,’ as the reporter on the phone recites, is that ‘the mindset really has been exposed’. The channel claims that Manu was made to sit on the floor. Showing two sets of pictures, they reported that the young shooter was first made to sit on a chair, “but when the SP and the senior officials came in, she was told to sit on the floor.”
Up in arms as they were, Manu Bhaker posted a video a few hours later, clarifying why she was sitting on the floor.
Bhaker has clarified that she chose to sit on the ground as there were elders present at the event. "During the felicitation ceremony, I sat on the ground on my own. There was space but I preferred to sit on the ground as few elders present at the event," she said.
“My village elders came and I stood up. What does a normal person do when they meet their elders? Do they keep sitting? If I sat in front of them on the ground, I did nothing wrong.”
“Why do journalists go to any extent to create a sensational news? This I believe they do when they can’t get a story. Such type of wrong propaganda should be stopped,” added the 17-year-old.
Liar @TimesNow doing fake propaganda. Listen to #CommonwealthGames2018 Gold medal winner Manu Bhaker here. She clearly says that she chose to sit below stage to give seat to her father. pic.twitter.com/0mSPDGXKew
— Rahul Kaushik (@kaushkrahul) April 17, 2018
