Hijab-clad Majizia Bhanu from Kerala eyes gold in World Arm Wrestling Championship
“I am an ordinary Muslim woman. Hijab is part of my everyday outfit. I never found it odd to wear it during competitions. No sports association has stopped me from using Hijab so far.”
This is Majizia Bhanu, 24, a multi-talented sports women from Orkkatteri village in Kerala’s Kozhikode district, who has been winning medals in three different power-centric sports events – arm wrestling, bodybuilding and powerlifting – since 2017.
Bhanu, a fourth year Bachelor of Dental Surgery student at the Mahe Institute of Dental Sciences, is now busy preparing for the 40th World Arm Wrestling Championship to be held in Antalya in Turkey from October 13 to 21.
She made the cut with a stunning performance in her debut in the national arm wrestling championship in Lucknow this May. The hijab-clad woman overpowered her rivals in 55 kg weight category with consummate ease for the gold and a ticket to the Worlds.
Not many knew that she took to the sport only a month before the national championships. “I found the arm wrestling table for the first time when I entered the fray in the Kozhikode district championship in April 2018,” she said.
After winning the district championships, she participated in the state-level event where she defeated reigning champion Praveena to qualify for the national championships. The rest, as they say, is history.
In February 2018, Bhanu hogged all the limelight when she was adjudged the best woman bodybuilder of Kerala. Wearing a full body black suit and a headscarf, she displayed her physique through four mandatory postures at the state championship in Kochi. The win earned her the moniker ‘Hijab-clad strong woman of Kerala’.
“I participated in the event only after getting assurance from the organisers that I would be allowed to compete wearing the full body suit and head scarf,” she said. “I never trained for it, but I was confident of my capabilities. My coach sent me photos of a few body building poses via WhatsApp hours before the competition. It helped me fetch the title,” she added.
Bhanu’s tryst with power sports began in 2017. “I began training in powerlifting in 2017 January,” she said. Five months later, she won medals in national and international competitions. “I consider my runner-up performance in Asian Powerlifting Championship in Indonesia in May 2017 as the best in my career so far,” she said.
Passion for sports
Sports has been Bhanu’s passion since her childhood. “When I was a child I knew that I had the same power as my boy counterparts. I used to challenge them in sports,” she said.
She participated in inter-school competitions in high jump and long jump till Class 10. “She was one of the energetic girls in our school. She gave her best shot in inter-school competitions,” said Surendran, her physical education teacher till Class 10 at the Islamic Academy Higher Secondary School in Vadakara in Kozhikode district.
She joined K Kunhirama Kurup Memorial Higher Secondary School near her home for Class XI and Class XII, where she continued to take part in competitions. “I shifted my focus to track events and won many titles in 100m hurdles in the inter-school competitions,” Bhanu said. “Hijab continued to be my companion then.”
Her focus shifted to power sports after she decided to study dental surgery. “It all started when I got a one-month break from college in December 2016,” she said.
Bhanu enrolled herself in a boxing training academy in Kozhikode, which is 50 km from her house. A couple of days later, her coach suggested to her to pursue powerlifting. “He told me that my body movements were fit for powerlifting, so I began working out at the Jaya Gym in Kozhikode for two days in a week.”
Bhanu said bench press troubled her in the beginning, but she overcame it with regular training. “I also faced little trouble with squat and dead lifts,” she said.
A couple of months later she moved to Hamstring Fitness Centre near her home in Vadakara and began to train under Shammas Abdul Latheef.
“My performance has been improving by the day. Now I can lift a total of 425 kg, with 175 kg of squat, 160 kg of dead lift and 90 kg in bench press.”
Coach Latheef felt that Bhanu has the capacity to win more laurels. “She is a passionate sportswoman. She has made it a habit to visit the gym even on busy days. She works out almost every day and it shows in her results,” he said.
Financial support
Her participation in the World Arm wrestling Championship in Turkey was in doubt as she couldn’t pay Rs 5 lakh before June 10. “I would have missed the event had I not deposited the amount in my bank account before June 10. I had knocked many doors for help. Timely help from a group of well-wishers from Kerala and Dubai saved me,” she said.
She hopes that the difficult phase of her career is over with a Dubai-based company – Bronet Group – choosing her as the brand ambassador on Tuesday.
She had missed the World Classic Powerlifting Championship in Canada owing to paucity of funds. “I don’t have a proper training facility or the support of nutrition expert and physiotherapist. Hope things will change from now on,” she said.
Bhanu said her family played a big role in moulding her sporting career. “I couldn’t have dreamed of these achievements without my family’s support,” she said.
Her father Abdul Majeed is a Karate exponent and her mother Raziya Majeed has always been her source of encouragement. Her younger brother Mohammed Nizamuddin is a budding choreographer.
“I am proud of my daughter’s achievement,” said her mother Raziya. “It is a good thing that she is winning medals without compromising her religious practices,” she added.
With 40 medals of various hues under her belt, Bhanu says she will never miss an opportunity to increase the tally.
She says she can fulfil her dream if powerlifting becomes an Olympic sport. If it doesn’t happen soon, she will not hesitate to take a plunge into weightlifting. “I can become a champion weightlifter by tweaking my techniques.”
But for the time being, Bhanu’s is fully focussing on the world championship. “I want to win the gold in Turkey.” “I will put in my best efforts to return with the yellow metal,” she said.
courtesy : scroll.in
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Chhattisgarh Vedanta power plant blast: Death toll rises to 20; sixteen workers undergoing treatment
Sakti (Chhattisgarh) (PTI): The death toll in a blast at the Vedanta power plant in Chhattisgarh's Sakti district has mounted to 20 with seven more workers succumbing to injuries, while 16 others are undergoing treatment at different hospitals, officials said on Wednesday.
The deceased include six labourers from West Bengal, five from Chhattisgarh, three each from Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, two from Bihar, and one from Madhya Pradesh.
The opposition Congress has demanded registration of an FIR against the plant management and a judicial inquiry into the incident.
The explosion occurred on Tuesday afternoon in a steel tube carrying high-pressure steam from the boiler to the turbine at the Vedanta Ltd power plant located in Singhitarai village, leaving several workers with severe burn injuries.
According to officials, four workers died on the spot, while nine others succumbed to injuries soon after the incident.
Seven more workers have died in hospitals, raising the toll to 20, Sakti Collector Amrit Vikas Topno told PTI on Wednesday.
He said that a total of 36 workers were affected in the blast, and 20 of them died.
"Of the 16 injured workers, five are undergoing treatment in hospitals in Raipur, while 11 others are in hospitals of Raigarh, the neighbouring district of Sakti," he added.
Topno added that every possible effort was being made to provide the best medical treatment to the injured.
The deceased were identified, and their family members are being contacted. Arrangements have been made to transport the mortal remains to their native villages via ambulance following the postmortem examination and to provide immediate financial assistance, he said.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the families of each deceased worker and Rs 50,000 for those injured.
Vedanta Power has also announced a Rs 35 lakh compensation for the family of each deceased worker, along with employment support.
The company will also provide Rs 15 lakh to each injured person, ensure salary continuation until recovery, and offer counselling support, a statement from the plant management said.
The chief minister has ordered an inquiry by the Commissioner of the Bilaspur division, assuring strict action against the guilty.
He directed officials to ensure free and proper medical treatment for all injured and emphasised that no negligence in their care would be tolerated.
The district administration has also ordered a separate magisterial probe, while the company has initiated its own internal investigation.
Collector Topno has appointed the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Dabhra to conduct the magisterial inquiry.
The SDM has been asked to submit a report within 30 days covering key aspects, including the cause of the accident, whether it was due to technical or human error, and details of safety inspections carried out at the plant.
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress has demanded registration of an FIR against the plant management and a judicial inquiry into the incident.
State Congress communication wing head Sushil Anand Shukla on Wednesday alleged negligence on the plant management's part and accused the government of attempting to shield those responsible.
He also demanded compensation of Rs 1 crore for the families of the deceased and Rs 50 lakh for the injured.
The construction of a 1,200 MW coal-based thermal power project (two units of 600 MW each) in Singhitarai, originally owned by Athena Chhattisgarh Power Ltd, started in 2009, but remained stalled between 2016 and 2022.
Vedanta acquired the plant in 2022, after which a 600 MW unit was completed and commissioned in August last year, while the second unit is still under construction.
The deceased have been identified as Amrit Lal Patel, Thanda Ram Lahre, Udhab Singh Yadav, Rameshwar Mahilange, and Nadeem Ansari (all from Chhattisgarh); Susanta Jana, Sheikh Saifuddin, Manas Giri, Kailash Mahto, Shibnath Murmu, and Dipankar Singh (West Bengal), Tarun Kumar Ojha, Abdul Karim and Ashok Parhiya (Jharkhand), Raju Ram, Pappu Kumar and Brijesh Kumar (Uttar Pradesh), Aakib Khan and Ritesh Kumar (Bihar), and Chitranjan Dhulai of Madhya Pradesh, officials said.
