Hockey Player Vandana Katariya Faces Caste Slurs
2 men pass casteist slurs towards the family of Vandana Katariya the hockey player who played for the Indian team in the Olympics.
The Indian Women’s Hockey team had qualified in the semi-finals to play against Argentina at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Japan. If they would have won, India would have qualified for the finals to fight for a gold medal. Sadly India lost the match. 29 year old Vandana Katariya was part of India's women's hockey team. Soon after the team went down to Argentina, her family that stays in Roshnabad area of Uttarakhand's Haridwar district, heard some noise outside their house. When they came out to see what happened, they saw 2 men dancing and bursting crackers. They were saying that the Indian hockey team lost because there too many Dalit players on the team and started passing casteist slurs against the family.
A heated argument also took place between members of the family and the two men involved in the incident, following which a complaint was filed by Vandana's brother Shekhar. Shekhar said that, “They went on saying that it’s not just hockey but every sport that should keep Dalits out. We are sad that the team lost but we are very proud of how strongly the girls played.” A man, identified as Vijay Pal, has been arrested and charged in connection with the incident. The incident triggered outrage on social media, with people pointing out that just days ago, during the India vs South Africa match, Vandana scored a hatrick. She was the first Indian woman to score a hat-trick in hockey in the Olympics. Because of her hattrick India beat South Africa 4-3. People on social media said that it is shameful that such a talented player who made India proud at the Olympics is insulted because of she is a Dalit.
