Why no Northeast in India map? Lovlina asks Glasgow eatery owners

Olympic medallist boxer Lovlina Borgohain, who settled for a silver medal at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, grabbed attention beyond the ring with her stand on an incorrect India map displayed in Glasgow. A video that went viral on social media on Sunday showed the Assam boxer objecting to a map printed for branding at a popular Indian eatery that allegedly omitted parts of Northeast India. 

“Please don’t take this the wrong way. I felt a little hurt by this. In the map of India displayed here, our Northeast is missing. Even outside, the map that has been displayed cuts off the Northeast. As someone from the region, that really hurts us. That’s all I wanted to say. Please keep this in mind next time. Thank you so much,” she said during the team’s visit to popular Indian restaurant Mister Singh’s India: The Home of Curry, for a celebratory dinner.

The napkins, as well as the map displayed on the restaurant’s door, did not include the Northeast. “Foreign Affairs Ministry should come up here,” a social media user commented. “You have simply won the hearts of the masses,” another user reacted. The incident unfolded on the same day India scripted history in boxing at the Commonwealth Games by winning a record seven gold medals.

Diffusing the situation, Boxing Federation of India (BFI) president Ajay Singh, who was present during the incident on Sunday, said the restaurant had assured the Indian contingent that it would correct the map of India displayed on its premises after boxer Lovlina Borgohain pointed out the error.

Singh said there was “no confrontation” with the restaurant management during the team’s celebratory dinner. “There was no confrontation. It was an aberration, and Lovlina and I pointed it out. They accepted their mistake and assured us that it would be corrected,” Singh said in an interview.