Don’t call me an outsider: Sania Mirza

Just a day after being nominated as the brand ambassador of Telangana, Sania Mirza couldn’t have had a more bitter experience. Apparently, unhappy over Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s decision a state BJP leader, K. Laxman, on Thursday said Sania was undeserving of the title and went on to call her, the “daughter-in-law of Pakistan”.

“Sania Mirza was born in Maharashtra. She was brought-up by her parents in Hyderabad. Then, she married a Pakistani. How can a non-local become Telangana ambassador? Feelings of Telangana community will be hurt if Sania Mirza is appointed the state ambassador.”

The party itself seemed to distance itself from the comment with senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi avoiding comments on the row, saying such comments, “only reflected the person’s culture”.

A hurt Sania has since taken to Twitter to slam the hate that’s been coming her way and her 7-point note further elaborates on how the star is as Hyderabadi as it gets. “It hurts me that so much precious time of prominent politicians and the media is being wasted on a petty issue of my being-appointed the Brand Ambassador of my State of Telangana,” she wrote.

“I am married to Mr Shoaib Malik, who is from Pakistan. I am an Indian, who will remain an Indian until the end of my life.” “I was born in Mumbai as my mother needed to be at a specialist hospital since she was seriously unwell at the time of my birth. I came home to Hyderabad when I was 3 weeks old.

“My forefathers have lived in Hyderabad for more than a century. My grandfather, Mr Mohammed Zaffer Mirza started his career as an Engineer in Nizam’s Railways in Hyderabad in 1948 and died in his ancestral home in Hyderabad. My great, great grandfather, Mr Aziz Mirza was the home secretary under the Nizam in Hyderabad and worked tirelessly for relief works-during the historic Musi River floods of 1908.”

“So, my family belongs to Hyderabad for more than a century and I strongly condemn any attempts by any person, whosoever, to brand me — an outsider,” she wrote. Social media, meanwhile, has reacted sharply against the K. Laxman’s comments. “BJP should apologise for the statement on Sania Mirza. Such statements are not good for democracy. It undermines the spirit of constitution,” wrote Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.