It has never occurred that two Indians draped in the tricolour have celebrated winning medals at an Olympic stadium in front of a near packed crowd. It was to this rarity that the country woke up to on Saturday 10 September 2016 in Rio when Mariappan Thangavelu and Varun Bhati won the gold and bronze in the high jump in the Paralympics. And in what was yet another huge moment for India, Deepa Malik followed up with a silver in the shot put on 13 September throwing 4.61 meters, a personal best for her. Finally, it was Devendra Jhajharia with his second Paralympic gold who ensured India rounded it off rather superbly in Brazil.
However, compared to the national outpouring of emotion in the aftermath of the bronze won by Sakshi Malik and silver won by PV Sindhu, the reaction to the gold, silver and bronze in the Para Games was at best muted in the country. While the athletes were celebrated in social media by the ordinary Indian sports fan, politicians who joined the bandwagon in the Sakshi-Sindhu aftermath mostly kept away.
I woke up to a similar reaction today on social media about the effort of Sumit Antil in Paris. While I see Yashaswi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma trending and fans speaking about Virat Kohli staying unbeaten in a relatively low key series against the West Indies, there is little talk about the incredible effort from Sumit in Paris. While taking nothing away from Rohit and Jaiswal, we need more for Sumit, Jyothi Yarraji, Tejaswin and the others who have done incredibly well yesterday at either the World Championships or the Asian Athletics Championships. For a country aspiring to be a multi sporting country, this is basic.
Yes we must celebrate the hundreds from Rohit and Jaiswal. But then we can’t limit ourselves to celebrating them and them only. And that too in a series, which is of a rather modest level. The West Indies aren’t a competition anymore and it is now evident to one and all. A series win might get India off to a good start in the WTC cycle but won’t do much more for the team. So the celebrations can be muted at best.
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On the other hand Sumit’s 70.83 meter throw was a phenomenal one. To see an Indian breaking his own world record is a real rarity and we need a lot more talk on such efforts.
Having said that, there has been effort from PCI, SAI, MYAS, Govt of India and a number of other agencies to celebrate the achievement. That’s where things have been better. The sports minister has personally congratulated every medal winner and celebrated every effort. The Prime Minister has led the way by celebrating and talking about these athletes in a number of forums and also on social media.
It is essential to state in this context that our treatment of Sumit, Yogesh, Nishad, and others and our sensitivity and affection showered on these super achievers will go a long away to defining us as a ‘people’ and will tell the world what kind of a society we are. Are we celebrating our para athletes enough or are we still going to discriminate? Will the sports fan in India celebrate Sumit as much as Jaiswal today?
In the West para athletes have for long been accorded the same respect as any other athlete. Medal winners have been feted in the same manner and the para games receive similar prominence in the media. In India, however, this has never been the case. We have as a society tended to look down upon our para athletes, have invested little in facilities that will encourage them to take up sport and done very little to decorate them and turn them into national icons. Such a mindset, appalling to say the least, betrays the very ideals of equality and civil liberty that the country stands for and the Tokyo Paralympics for example helped in transforming this trend. Sumit’s effort in Paris is an indication how good the athletes have become. We are now seeing a sea change in facilities. The Government of Odisha for example has integrated facilities for para athletes in all the excellent infrastructure they have created and it is this sensitivity that will help take sport forward.
Tokyo had given us the opportunity. To redeem ourselves and stand up to the test of our own conscience.
Taking a cue from Sumit, Avani, Yogesh and others, Indian sports can take a giant leap in the next one year. We now know that it is possible. Eminently possible. It is time to become a sensitive, multi sporting nation. Alongside the Asia Cup and the World Cup we need to celebrate the Asian Games and the Asian Para Games. That’s where we become a better India, a more inclusive India. For a start let’s celebrate Sumit as much as anyone else today.
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