Arshad Nadeem, crowd-funded to buy javelin for Olympics, to get 10 crore prize money from govt
Karachi, Aug 9: Chief Minister of Pakistan's Punjab province, Maryam Nawaz, has announced a 10 crore (PKR) cash prize for javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, who smashed the Olympic record en route an unprecedented gold in Paris, a remarkable turnaround for the athlete who had to seek crowd funding for a new javelin months before the Games.
Nawaz also said a sports city named after the athlete would be built in his hometown of Khanewal.
Nadeem has faced scarcity of resources and facilities that all non-cricket playing athletes face in the country.
Even after winning a Commonwealth Games gold and World Championship silver in 2022 and 2023, Arshad had to plead for a new javelin before the Paris Olympics as his old one had worn out after years of use.
Perhaps this is why Arshad's first message to his parents from Paris on Thursday is that he is now determined to build a proper academy for athletes in or near his village.
"He was thankful to Allah for giving him so much glory and the one thing he said was that he hoped his olympic gold medal will now help in his endeavour to build a sports academy for athletes in his rural area," his father Muhammad Arshad told PTI.
Nadeem has said recently that he would love to see proper academies for track and field athletes in Punjab because of the difficulties he faced as a javelin thrower and because of shortage of proper training facilities, coaching, funds and equipment for athletes in the country.
"Since last night we have not been able to catch a wink because there has been an endless stream of people and calls wanting to congratulate us and share our happiness and joy," his father said.
Nadeem's elder brother, who first encouraged him to become a javelin thrower, told PTI that there is lot of untapped talent in the rural areas of Punjab and Pakistan can find many other Arshad Nadeems if only there was focus on providing a platform for youngsters to show their talent.
"Traditionally, in many areas of rural Punjab the youth are physically very strong and well built and are willing to work hard for hours on end. They just need guidance. Hopefully my brother's performance will change all that now," Muhammad Azeem said.
His mother said that her son had kept his promise to her of winning the gold medal.
"I just pray he gets many more laurels for Pakistan," Raziah Parveen said.
"I want to see many more Arshad Nadeems winning medals for Pakistan."
General (red) Muhammad Akram Sahi, who has headed the national athletics body for several years, hoped Arshad's feat will help raise the profile of athletics in Pakistan.
"When Neeraj Chopra emerged he made a big impact in India for non cricket athletes and hopefully this will also happen in Pakistan," he said.
Even as the country awaits Nadeem's return on Saturday from Paris, the congratulatory messages and tributes have poured in from all quarters with the Pakistan Cricket Board also releasing special videos of their players hailing him.
Cash awards are also being announced with prime minister Shahbaz Sharif also posting a video of himself intently watching the javelin throw finals on Thursday night.
His feat has been best described by his coach, Salman Butt: "His record breaking throw was unbelievable and out of the syllabus."
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Delhi CM Rekha Gupta accuses Mamata Banerjee of stalling SIR; TMC hits back
Kolkata (PTI): Alleging that her West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee had approached the Supreme Court to stall the SIR exercise to prevent the identification of infiltrators, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday claimed that the people of the state have made up their minds to dislodge the Trinamool Congress from power.
The TMC countered strongly, urging Gupta to "look into her own backyard" and accused her of making absurd allegations against the TMC government without checking facts.
Addressing participants at the 'Nari Sankalp Yatra' organised by the BJP's women's wing at Science City auditorium here, Gupta alleged that the "hands-off" and appeasement policies of the TMC government had allowed thousands of infiltrators to enter the state in recent years.
She claimed that this had put a strain on basic rights such as access to water, electricity, ration, education, livelihood and the right to vote for genuine citizens.
"She wants to perpetuate this and hence is trying to stall the SIR exercise, which aims at identifying and deporting infiltrators. Imagine a chief minister going to the apex court to argue against an exercise meant to ensure free and fair polls," Gupta said.
The BJP leader alleged that appeasement politics had reached an "alarming level" under the TMC regime.
Raising concerns over women's safety, she claimed that women in the state were not secure despite having a woman chief minister.
Referring to the rape-murder of a woman doctor at RG Kar Hospital, Gupta alleged that the state government had failed to respond adequately to such crimes.
She also referred to the alleged rape of a woman medic in Durgapur and another law student on a Kolkata college campus, claiming that criminals had been emboldened to commit brutalities against women.
She alleged that in crimes against women, overall crime incidents and child marriages, West Bengal remained among the top -- "a slur on a state which once led intellectual and social movements and set examples for the rest of the country," she said.
Criticising the state government's welfare initiatives, she said schemes such as Kanyashree were built on "false claims" and asserted that women needed security rather than assurances.
Accusing the state government of blocking central schemes, Gupta alleged that funds worth "lakhs of crores of rupees" had not reached the poor due to non-implementation of programmes such as Ayushman Bharat, PM Awas Yojana and Jal Jeevan Mission by the state.
"You are only interested in renaming projects and taking credit," she said.
Gupta also alleged that the education sector in the state had been adversely affected, saying several state-run schools had closed due to a shortage of teachers and that the government was opposed to the National Education Policy.
Drawing a comparison with BJP-ruled Delhi, Gupta said, "People have already voted out 'Bhaia' (a reference to former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal). Now it is your turn to bid farewell to 'Didi'." Calling upon women to resist what she termed "strong-arm tactics", she urged them to assert their strength, invoking the imagery of Goddess Durga.
"Bengal has the right to live with dignity, and women have the right to live with dignity," she added.
Reacting to Gupta's allegations, West Bengal Women and Child Welfare minister Shashi Panja accused her of making "absurd allegations" against the Trinamool Congress government ahead of elections.
Panja alleged that during Gupta's tenure in Delhi, several incidents had raised serious concerns, including reports of missing young women and a blast near the Red Fort.
She also criticised the air pollution situation in the national capital, claiming that people were struggling to breathe.
The TMC leader said that despite being in power for a year, Gupta was making "tall claims" instead of addressing key issues in Delhi.
Panja further alleged that the Delhi CM visited West Bengal during elections to "peddle false allegations" against the state government.
Rebutting Gupta, the TMC said in a post on X said, "Madam why did you go off-script again? For your edification, here are the cold, hard facts: In total cases of crimes (IPC + SLL), Bengal ranks a respectable 15th, far safer than BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, which languish near the bottom."
"In overall crime rate, Bengal sits comfortably at 28th. Who's second? Your own Delhi. Double Engine Gujarat and Haryana grab 4th and 5th as top-tier crime havens," the TMC said.
"In child marriage, Assam again takes the shameful pole position. And yet you dare lecture Bengal? Stop embarrassing yourself, stop the hypocrisy, and maybe fix the rotting mess in your own backyard before pointing fingers at a state that's outperforming your disasters on every key metric," the TMC countered.
