Guwahati: “Is she my wife? Remove the red wax statue …” Onler Karong, London Olympics bronze medallist MC Mary Kom’s husband isn’t impressed with the statue carved out to honour his wife along with 18 other Olympians at the proposed Manipur Olympian Park at Sangauthel near the state capital.
“I was just raising a concern, I am not complaining. But this isn’t right, you can make joker faces in newspapers for satire but not in statues. Kyo joker banaya (Why did they make a joker out of her statue)? And I’m not saying that since she’s my wife, as a sports lover, I would have raised similar objections had it been done to other athletes too,” Onler told EastMojo over phone.
“If the state government wants to pay respect to the state’s Olympic medallists, is that the kind of statue they are expected to make? Tell me from which angle that statue resembles Mary Kom? Even the kids have rejected the statue. My sons have refused to believe it’s their mother’s statue,” he added.
“This is shoddy work, and to say the least, it is disrespectful towards our athletes, who have brought laurels to the state and the country with sheer hard work over the years. Mary Kom has been a six-time world champion,” he further said.
Onler, who has been a pillar of support for the six-time world champion, said he would have been miffed in a similar way had it been done to a Lovlina Borgohain or a Shiva Thapa in Assam. “This is simply not acceptable. No other boxer, or athlete, who has got so many medals for the state, the North East and the country deserves such shoddy treatment.”
Onler felt that the government was caught napping as it had rightfully sought adequate permission from the Olympic medallist but didn’t bother to check the progress of the work on the statue, which has resulted in such a ‘joker’.
“They had to come and take the size of her face, and her gloves. I wonder what the future generation will learn by watching these jokers. They haven’t checked anything, I won’t blame the sculptors but it’s the duty of the ones who employed these sculptors to check the progress of the work from time to time,” he said.
Onler said that he has contacted the Chief Minister Biren Singh, and the CMO has agreed to change the statue. But he’s still skeptical of the changes as the park is slated for inauguration within a few days.
“We are discussing the issue with the state government. The CMO has agreed to change the statue, but the park is likely to be opened in a few days’ time, and are they getting the statue changed by then? I doubt but let’s see,” he said.
“If they can’t remove it, I will come and remove it,” he said before signing off.
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The statues of all 19 Olympians, including three medallists, are expected to be installed at a shed at the park. After Mary Kom’s 2012 bronze, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (weightlifting) and Nilankanta Sharma (hockey) returned home with a silver and team bronze medals, respectively from the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Female hockey player Sushila Chanu also created history after a heartbreaking fourth-place finish by the Indian women’s team in the Japanese capital city.
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