Tokyo 2020: Rani Rampal speaks out against casteist slurs hurled at Vandana Katariya’s family

The
family
of
Vandana,
who
scored
four
goals
during
the
Tokyo
2020
Olympics,
found
itself
at
the
receiving
end
of
allegedly
casteist
slurs
from
few
people
in
their
neighbourhood
in
Haridwar
after
the
team
lost
the
semifinal
clash
against
Argentina
on
Wednesday
(August
4).

“It’s
such
a
bad
thing
which
has
happened.
We
work
so
hard
to
represent
our
country.
Stop
all
these
things
like
discriminating
on
religion,
casteism
because
we
work
above
all
these
things,”
Rani
said
during
a
virtual
press
conference.

Tokyo
2020:
Hockey:
India
hails
women’s
team’s
fighting
display
against
Argentina

Later
on,
India
ended
up
fourth
at
the
Tokyo
2020
Olympics
after
going
down
to
Great
Britain
3-4
in
an
intensely
fought
bronze
medal
play-off
tie.

Though
they
lost
the
bronze
medal
match,
their
performance
throughout
Tokyo
2020
came
in
for
special
praise,
even
from
the
opposition
camp.

Tokyo
2020:
India
lauds
women’s
hockey
team
for
fighting
Olympic
show

“We
come
from
different
parts
of
India,
follow
different
religions.
But
when
we
come
here
we
work
together
for
India.
It’s
so
shameful
when
we
see
people
indulging
in
such
behaviour,”
Rani
said.

“But
there
are
also
people
who
have
given
us
so
much
love
even
though
we
didn’t
win
a
medal.
So
they
should
learn
from
such
people.
If
we
want
to
make
India
a
hockey
nation,
we
need
everyone,”
she
added.

We
have
inspired
a
nation:
Indian
Women’s
Hockey
Coach
Sjoerd
Marijne

Accoring
to
a

PTI
news
agency
report,
two
men
had
reportedly
danced
and
burst
firecrackers
outside
Vandana’s
house
in
the
Roshnabad
area
of
Haridwar
in
a
gesture
of
mockery.

When
some
members
of
Vandana’s
family
came
out
hearing
the
noise,
the
two
men
also
passed
casteist
remarks
against
them,
saying
the
team
had
lost
because
it
had
too
many
Dalit
players
in
it,
according
to
the
local
officials.

Tokyo
Olympics:
India
eves
maintain
quarterfinal
hope
beating
South
Africa
4-3

The
29-year-old
striker
had
scored
a
hat-trick
against
South
Africa
in
the
group
stages
of
the
Tokyo
2020
Olympics,
becoming
the
first
first
from
the
country
to
achieve
the
feat.

Rani
hoped
that
people
will
learn
from
this
incident
and
such
things
will
not
happen
in
the
furture,
“It’s
a
bad
a
thing,
it
shouldn’t
have
happened.
Maybe
they’ll
learn
in
the
future
to
not
do
such
things.”