On 4th July, Congress supporter Roshan Kumar Rai attributed a misleading quote on Manipur to the Captain of the Indian Football Team, Sunil Chhetri. The quote was later picked by Live Hindustan and made its way to the print edition on 5th July.
In the now-deleted-tweet, Rai wrote, “Sunil Chhetri, Indian captain after winning #SAFFChampionship2023: This win is dedicated to my people in Manipur, Manipur loves football, and it pains me to see what’s happening there; I hope Manipur unitedly celebrates this win. What a champ, what a player, what a citizen.”
Congress IT Cell's @RoshanKrRaii spread Fake News on Twitter.
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) July 5, 2023
Hindustan Newspaper @Live_Hindustan used the fake quote and spread Congress propaganda to its huge reader base.
This is why Indian Journalism is ranked the worst. pic.twitter.com/qxn5ZgAd9q
Twitter user Ankur Singh shared a screenshot of the tweet. OpIndia has contacted Chhetri’s management team to get an official statement on the controversy, as we could not find any authentic source of the quote that was attributed to him. Once we receive a reply from them, the story will be updated.
The tweet, though deleted by Rai, was published at 10:36 PM. When we searched the text on Twitter, we found that the oldest tweet with the same still available text was published at 10:43 PM by an AAP supporter named Gurbinder Singh.
#SAFFChampionship2023 #SunilChhetri, Indian captain after winning #SAFFChampionship2023 : This win is dedicated to my people in Manipur, Manipur loves football and it pains me to see what's happening there, I hope Manipur unitedly celebrates this win.
— Gurbinder Sandhu (@gurbinder44567) July 4, 2023
What a champ, what a player pic.twitter.com/mKQ4kNJ4Ti
The Meitei Heritage Society and a troll Twitter account Niiravmodi also published it.
Sunil Chhetri, Indian captain after winning #SAFFChampionship2023 : This win is dedicated to my people in Manipur, Manipur loves football and it pains me to see what's happening there, I hope Manipur unitedly celebrates this win.
— Meitei Heritage Society (@meiteiheritage) July 4, 2023
What a champ, what a player, what a citizen… pic.twitter.com/B83vNXaWrw
The recent incident of the Salai Taret flag being hoisted by Indian football players and fans over the Indian National Flag raises serious concerns and calls for immediate attention. Such an act is highly disrespectful to our National Flag and sends a wrong message about the… pic.twitter.com/gvIy9QGCjT
— Zogam Mosi (@LianGuite1231) July 4, 2023
The controversy around Jaekson Singh Thounaojam
Though Chhetri was apparently misattributed to the quote, a statement on Manipur was given by another football player Jaekson Singh Thounaojam who hails from Manipur. After winning the game, Jaekson was seen wearing the Meitei flag, which resulted in an uproar over social media. The flag worn by him was the Flag of Kangleipak or Salai Taret Flag, which represents the seven clan dynasties of the Meitei ethnicity of Ancient Manipur. Twitter user Lian Guite said, “the flag hoisted by Indian football players and fans over the Indian National Flag raises serious concerns and calls for immediate action” as it “sends a wrong message about the unity and patriotism of the individuals involved”.
The recent incident of the Salai Taret flag being hoisted by Indian football players and fans over the Indian National Flag raises serious concerns and calls for immediate attention. Such an act is highly disrespectful to our National Flag and sends a wrong message about the… pic.twitter.com/gvIy9QGCjT
— Zogam Mosi (@LianGuite1231) July 4, 2023
Speaking to ESPN’s Shyam Vasudevan, Jeakson said, “It’s my Manipur flag. I just wanted to… what’s happening in Manipur…I just wanted to tell everyone in India and Manipur to stay in peace and not fight. I want peace. It’s been 2 months now, and still, fighting is going on. I don’t want that kind of thing to happen more, and I just want to bring the government’s and other people’s attention to get peace, you know. My family is safe, but there are a lot of families who have suffered and lost their home and all. Yeah, it’s difficult now…even for me, it’s difficult to go back home now with the situation…even I don’t know what’s going to happen. I hope things get well soon.”
I spoke to @JeaksonT on the flag he carried at the prize ceremony. Here's what he said ⤵️#SAFFChampionship2023 | #KUWIND | #IndianFootball | @ESPNIndia pic.twitter.com/f0gZuFbvwW
— Shyam Vasudevan (@JesuisShyam) July 4, 2023
Following the uproar, Jaekson took on Instagram and apologised for it and said he only wanted to bring attention towards what was happening in his home state. He added there was no intention to hurt anyone’s sentiments. “
He wrote, “By celebrating in the flag, I did not want to hurt the sentiments of anyone. I intended to bring notice to the issues that my home state, Manipur, is currently facing. This win tonight is dedicated to all the Indians. I hope that peace returns to my home state of Manipur. Thank you to the fans for coming out and supporting the team tonight!
On July 4, the Indian Football team led by Sunil Chhetri defeated Kuwait in a penalty shootout to win the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship for the 9th time.
