Daughter of Bangladesh

Once again Bangladeshis on social media have split like derriere on a particular issue. This time the issue is Margarita “Rita” Mamun, Russian gymnast of Bangladeshi origin. 

As news of her winning gold in rhythmic gymnastics at Rio Olympics broke, giddy local news and netizens hailed this as an “achievement for both nations”. Shortly afterwards, a debate ensued.

For: Why not? It's not costing us anything to celebrate this victory. I mean, we're a nation that's probably more hardcore about supporting the Brazilian and Argentine football teams at the World Cup than the Latin Americans themselves.

Against: What exactly has Bangladesh contributed to this young athlete's moment of glory? Had Rita been born and brought up in conservative Bangladesh, could she even pursue a career in gymnastics? One only needs to browse the comments section under entertainment and celebrity news to get an idea of what would've been said about the gymnast's costumes. 

Can we not?

– Karim Waheed, Editor, SHOUT