Shobhaa De gets sporting lesson from Abhinav Bindra and co for Twitter dig at Indian Olympians

On Monday evening, as India was on the verge of yet another disappointing day at the Rio Olympics 2016, socialite/celebrity writer Shobhaa De decided to vent her frustration with a rather off-the-mark remark. “Goal of Team India at the Olympics: Rio jao, selfies lo, khaali haat wapas aao (Go to Rio, click selfies, return home empty handed). What a waste of money and opportunity,” she wrote.

If De thought she was expressing the views of a billion Indians through her sarcastic/cheeky comment, she couldn’t have been more mistaken. While there was admittedly a lot of frustration among fans and ex-sportspersons regarding the below-par showing in the three days of Rio 2016 Olympics, the prominent thought was one of support for our Olympians. Abhinav Bindra, who himself narrowly missed out on a medal on Monday, was quick to defend the performances of his fellow Olympians.

Actress Gul Panag supported Bindra and the Olympians, drawing attention to the difficulties they have faced.

Badminton player Jwala Gutta, who will be in action in women’s doubles matches on Thursday, said the problem was the attitude of people like Shobhaa De.

Former India hockey captain Viren Rasquinha was also outraged by De’s remarks.

The tide turned against De very quickly. Here’s how Twitterati responded.

De, however, has was quoted by CNN News18 as saying that she won’t apologise for her tweet. Also read: Shobhaa De trolls Indian contingent at Olympics; gets trolled by Twitterati in return