New Delhi: Malishka Mendonsa, radio jockey with private FM station Red FM, and her female colleagues Thursday sparked a row for welcoming Olympic Gold Medalist Neeraj Chopra on their show by dancing in front of him during a video interview.
The star javelin thrower made history as he won the first Gold medal for India at the Tokyo Olympics earlier this month. He is also the second Indian to win an individual Gold medal in the Olympics so far.
Calling their act “disgusting”, “cheap” and “nonsense”, Twitter users apologised on behalf of the RJs as they claimed the dance made the javelin thrower feel “awkward” and accused them of “disrespecting” him.
One user also asked the RJs to “stop romanticising male players”, saying that they are “much more than a sexual object”.
This is DÌSGUSTING to say the least.
You may not have any shàme, but at least respect his stature and dignity.
— Neta Ji (@AapGhumaKeLeL0) August 19, 2021
If you want to see real torture, watch this.
Sorry @Neeraj_chopra1 you have to go thru this.
— Gaurav Mishra?? (@IAmGMishra) August 19, 2021
Can you please stop romanticising male players? They are much more than a sexual object. I hope red fm takes note of this.
— Dr Smoking Skills (@Smokingskills07) August 19, 2021
‘Sexist, Disgusting’
In the 45-second video, tweeted by RJ Mendonsa, she and a few of her female colleagues can be seen dancing to the song ‘uden jab jab zulfein teri‘ from the Bollywood movie Naya Daur.
“Ladiesssss..Yes I got the hard hitting, deep answers too but..Take the first 4 secs before the cam moves to the zoom call to guess who we are dancing for 😉 #udejabjabzulfeinteri and then tell me I did it for all of us #gold #olympics #neerajchopra @RedFMIndia @RedFM_Mumbai (sic)”, Mendonsa wrote in her tweet.
Ladiesssss..Yes I got the hard hitting, deep answers too but..Take the first 4 secs before the cam moves to the zoom call to guess who we are dancing for? 😉 #udejabjabzulfeinteri and then tell me I did it for all of us? #gold #olympics #neerajchopra @RedFMIndia @RedFM_Mumbai pic.twitter.com/SnEJ99MK31
— Mumbai Ki Rani (@mymalishka) August 19, 2021
While some said the “iota of nonsense that Neeraj Chopra is being subjected to by females” amounted to “sexism”, others slammed Red FM for allowing such behaviour.
Not just the gestures. Language. "Hard hitting deep answers"
If any female athlete was subjected to iota of nonsense that @Neeraj_chopra1 is being subjected to, by females, the ladies dancing here themselves will be coming on Live debates on News Channels talking about "SEXISM"
— Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj (@DeepikaBhardwaj) August 19, 2021
Sad to see you guys doing this and even sad is the fact that @RedFMIndia is allowing you all to do it.
I mean, what if the genders were opposite in this case? Had @RedFM_Mumbai allowed that too?
Very sad !
— Shashank Shekhar Jha (@shashank_ssj) August 19, 2021
A Twitter user wrote, “This is DÌSGUSTING to say the least. You may not have any shàme, but at least respect his stature and dignity”.
Another user argued that “they don’t genuinely respect Neeraj Chopra” or even his achievement because they still see him as “a village boy from Haryana who made it big”, adding that they wouldn’t dare break protocol when interviewing “sports elite like Virat Kohli or Leander Paes”.
That clip of RJs dancing before Neeraj Chopra on zoom. My charge is that none of them genuinely respects Neeraj Chopra or even his achievement. To them, he's still that village boy from Haryana who made it big. They wouldn't do this to a Virat Kohli or say, Leander Paes.
— Arush Tandon (@ArushTandon) August 19, 2021
(Edited by Neha Mahajan)
Also read: With Olympics ‘golden throw’, Subedar Neeraj Chopra could land promotion in Army