The Saga of Pinky Karmakar

Insight Bureau:   Pinky Karmakar, the torchbearer for the 2012 London Olympics, is currently working as a daily wage labourer in a tea plantation in Dibrugarh, according to reports in the mainstream media. 

She told ANI in a statement: “I didn’t get any facilities. I don’t understand why. I was selected by UNICEF. My dreams have been shattered.”

According to the sources, she was involved in social activities when she was 18 years old and used to tutor women in her neighbourhood. She also participated in a variety of sports at school and was chosen for UNICEF’s Sports for Development programme. She travelled to the London Olympics as a torchbearer as part of the programme.

Several mainstream media outlets picked up the storey and portrayed her as an athlete. Inside Sport, a website, dubbed her a flag bearer and released a report titled – “From high of Neeraj Chopra’s Gold, Olympics Shame for India – 2012 Olympic Flagbearer- Pinky Karmakar found working as a daily wager in Assam”.

The misconception stems from an article published in the Times of India on August 8, which detailed her suffering. According to the Times of India, she was greeted warmly upon her return to India as a medalist from the London Olympics. The news agency ANI, however, retracted the report after realising that it was perhaps inaccurate and spreading confusion.

Flagbearers and torchbearers are both seen during the Olympics. Despite the fact that they are both important, they have nothing in common. Flagbearers, according to the Olympics, are athletes who carry their country’s national flag during the Olympic Games’ opening ceremony. A flagbearer is always an Athlete who is competing in one or more of the Olympic events. 

Torchbearers, on the other hand, are those who carry the Olympic Flame to the stadium.  Takashige Sho, a magician, was one of the torchbearers in the Tokyo Olympics. Aamir Khan, a Bollywood actor, was one of the torchbearers in the 2008 Olympics.

Pinky, according to the TOI, was promised “remuneration” for representing India in the torch relay. She asserted, “Till date, I have not received anything. The truth is that the daughter of a labourer has remained a labourer.”

Torchbearers do not technically represent any country, but they do symbolise the Olympic spirit and the host country. The torchbearers for each Olympic Games are chosen by the host country’s Olympic organisation, according to the Olympics.