Chandigarh, March 4: Tweets from wrestler Sakshi Malik reminding the Haryana government of unfulfilled promises have invited jocular messages asking her to get ready to move to Pakistan, the Twitterati mocking BJP supporters' usual response to anyone questioning the establishment.
" Medal ka vaada maine poora kiya, Haryana sarkar kab apna vaada poora karegi (I've kept my promise of a medal, when will the Haryana government keep its promise)? Announcements made by Haryana government after my Olympics medal win were for media only?" the Rio Olympics bronze-medallist had tweeted this afternoon.
Within hours, her Twitter handle was flooded with tongue-in-cheek messages of support.
" Aao behan, hum Pakistan jaa rahe hain, ek seat khaali hai bus mein (Come sister, we are going to Pakistan and the bus has a seat vacant)," tweeted ROFL Gandhi Hindu, a popular Twitter handle known for messages critical of the BJP.
Another tweeter, Rupert Dsouza, took a dig at Haryana sports minister Anil Vij who had said that anyone supporting Gurmehar Kaur, the Delhi University student who had launched a campaign against violence by Sangh student arm ABVP, should be sent to Pakistan.
"Vij sir, book one more ticket to Pak," Dsouza tweeted.
Ashish Pradhan suggested that Sakshi criticise Gurmehar: "Speak out against Gurmeher and you will immediately get what was promised."
Geeta and Babita Phogat, two wrestler sisters from Haryana who have shot to fame courtesy a Bollywood movie based on their lives, had last week condemned a statement by Gurmehar, along with ex-cricketer Virender Sehwag and actor Randeep Hooda.
Many tweeters today asked why Hooda and Sehwag were silent on Sakshi's query.
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had handed over a cheque for Rs 2.5 crore to Sakshi on August 24 last year and appointed her the state's ambassador for the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme. The Kerala government too gave her Rs 25 lakh as reward for the Olympics performance.
Delhi's Aam Aadmi party government felicitated her parents in the Assembly.
Sakshi's mother Sudesh told The Telegraph this evening that the Haryana government had promised much more.
"The government had promised a promotion for me and a job for Sakshi at the Maharishi Dayanand University. All the Olympians from Haryana have been given 500-square-yard plots in Panchkula except for Sakshi. That's why she is upset," Sudesh said over the phone from Rohtak.
Sudesh, a supervisor in the Haryana government's women and child development department, claims she had been promised a promotion as planning officer.
Vij told this newspaper: "We gave her a cheque for Rs 2.5 crore. She asked for a job. A post was created at Maharishi Dayanand University. I don't know what happened after that."
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Khattar was a habitual offender in not meeting promises.
"Khattar is ready to bask in the glory of Haryana's sporting icons but when it comes to fulfilling promises made to them, he suffers from selective amnesia," Surjewala said.
