Meet Rahmat Pasha from Hyderabad who turned hero for victims during Bondi Beach Attack
Hyderabad/Sydney: Mohammed Rahmat Pasha, a 37-year-old man from Hyderabad, emerged as an unlikely first responder during the recent shooting at Bondi Beach in Australia, helping injured victims even as the attacker continued firing.
Pasha, who hails from Vikarabad district in Telangana and previously lived in Masab Tank, Hyderabad, was walking along the beachfront a little after 7 pm when he heard sounds he initially mistook for firecrackers. Moments later, panic erupted as people began screaming and collapsing to the ground, making it clear that a shooting was underway.
ALSO READ: Messi event chaos: Court extends police custody of chief organiser till Jan 9
Recalling the incident in an interview to Vartha Bharati, Pasha said he saw the gunman advancing and firing. Despite fearing for his own life, he stopped to help an elderly woman who had been shot in the legs and was crying out for assistance. He sat beside her, comforted her, held her hand and reassured her until emergency services arrived.
“The shooter was not very far from me and I could see him clearly,” Pasha said. “I was scared, but I could not walk away when I saw someone badly injured and asking for help.”
Pasha assisted police and healthcare workers by helping move injured people onto stretchers and into ambulances. He said the scenes were chaotic and deeply disturbing, with people running in all directions to escape the gunfire. One of the victims, he recalled, succumbed to injuries while being assisted.
The father of three, who moved to Australia in 2019 to train as a chef, said the psychological impact of the incident has been severe. He has not returned to work since the attack and is struggling with sleep, managing only a few hours each night.
Screengrab from a video from during the attack wherein Pasha can be seen helping authorities
Speaking about the communal abuse and anti-immigrant rhetoric that surfaced online after the incident, Pasha rejected attempts to link the attack to religion. He said his faith teaches that saving one innocent life is equal to saving all of humanity and stressed that terrorism has no religion.
Pasha said he has received support and messages of solidarity from people around him in Australia, while his family in Hyderabad hopes he will return home soon.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
===================
The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
