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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'Someone must be held accountable': HC converts civil suit on Goa nightclub tragedy into PIL
Panaji (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Monday converted a civil suit against Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) saying "someone has to be held accountable" for the tragedy in which 25 people were killed.In a stern observation, Goa bench of the High Court of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ashish Chavan said the local panchayat had "failed to take suo motu cognisance" of the club and had taken "no action despite complaints."
The division bench directed the Goa government to file a detailed reply on the permissions granted to the nightclub.
The High Court, while fixing January 8 as the next date of hearing, pointed out that commercial operations were continuing in the structure despite it having been served a demolition order.
The original petition was filed after the December 6 tragedy by Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar and Sunil Divkar, the owners of the land on which the nightclub was operating.
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Advocate Rohit Bras de Sa, the lawyer representing the petitioner, was made amicus curiae in the matter and has been asked to file a detailed affidavit in the matter.
In their petition, Amonkar and Divkar highlighted "the alarming pattern of statutory violations that have remained inadequately addressed despite multiple complaints, inspections, show-cause notices, and even a demolition order".
They contended that these violations posed "immediate threats to public safety, ecological integrity, and the rule of law in the state of Goa."
Investigations by multiple agencies into the nightclub fire have revealed various irregularities, including lack of permissions to operate the nightclub.
The Goa police arrested five managers and staff members of the club, while co-owners Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra have been detained in Thailand after they fled the country.
