Pakistani award-winning cyclist Samar Khan flared up with anger after she was made to leave the show she was invited on for the interview. Samar uploaded a video of her last night in which she explained the incident. According to her, the TV show host didn’t even know her name or profile and when she demanded a proper introduction as she deserved, she was asked to leave the show.
Samar, who caught the world’s attention in 2016, is the first woman in the world to ride cycle on 4,500 meters Biafo Glacier in the Karakoram Mountains of Gilgit Baltistan. She holds a master’s degree in physics from Federal Urdu University and is a certified paraglider from Army School of Physical Training, Kakul. The list of her achievements exceeds the age of the 30-year-old superwoman yet and unfortunately, she is another victim of discrimination faced by athletes of this country.
The recent incident, according to Samar, is another exhibit of our priorities as a nation where all athletes are put in a single room like a herd without any basic facilities, whereas people with a higher number of social media followings are given top-notch facilities.
It’s not the first time, many such incidents have happened during the last 4, 5 years of sports journey and I’m not the first athlete who has to face this discrimination.
“It is very common that events and award shows of athletes are high jacked by the ones whose only achievement is an excessive number of fan-following on social media,” Samar mentioned.
Samar seemed to have had enough of the disrespect and discrimination as she continued bashing the public, media, and the social media influencers, all at the same time. She sarcastically suggested:
If fan following determines the worth of a person, you should send these so-called influencers to championships and Olympics so that they may win gold medals for you, make them sit in parliament and let them make decisions for you, and invite them as analysts on TV shows so they may solve all national issues.
In her post on Facebook, she complained that if international journalists could research profiles of her and other athletes before calling them on the TV shows, anyone could. Samar reminded her followers of the blood and sweat athletes had to shed, unlike social media temporary fame-makers.
I refuse to call them influencers as I don’t see any productive influence except ‘Naaz o Adaaen and Chichchorapan.’ Apparently, the increasing fan following increases their knowledge and intellect and they qualify for degrees of well-recognized universities of the world.
Samar articulately announced that she has left no more tolerance for such behavior after years of discrimination. She asked the media not to invite athletes on their shows if they can’t be respected. She rightfully questioned the priorities of Pakistanis as a nation where cheap entertainment and fan following is considered everything.
While the regret over late recognition for Ali Sadpara still echos through walls of social media, an Olympic gold medalist is forced to drive rickshaw, globally admired Zara Naeem and Zubaida Sirang continue to be over-shadowed by a random ‘pawri’ girl, Samar Khan’s outburst indicates the severity of situation. We Pakistanis, as a nation, love to indulge in moral policing of others when, in fact we are the ones who need it the most along with an improved sense of responsibility and ethics.
Here is what Samar Khan had to say in her video:
1= Intrviewer: What's your full name?
Me: Samar KhanIntrviewer: Welcome to the show, we have 1st guest (his complete intro) then we have another great female, who(pause), what to tell you(pause), she rides in all the country!! pic.twitter.com/Diwi5Pqq94
— Samar Khan (@SKhanAthlete) February 15, 2021
Leave a Reply