Rahul Gandhi shows Jiu-Jitsu skills during meeting with Bajrang, other wrestlers
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had demonstrated his Jiu-Jitsu skills while engaging in a martial art bout with wrestler Bajrang Punia during his visit to the Virendra Akhara in Haryana's Jhajjar district amid the row over Wrestling Federation of India elections.
Gandhi had a practice session with the wrestlers and displayed the Japanese martial art skills to them during the early morning visit on Wednesday.
In a video uploaded by Bajrang on 'X' on Thursday, Gandhi can be seen showing the 'locks' and 'chokes' technique in Jiu-Jitsu as he pinned Olympic Games bronze medallist Bajrang down on the mat.
Jiu-jitsu is a Japanese martial art form and a close combat sport.
The former Congress president also learnt some of the wrestling moves such as 'dhobi pachaad' and 'dhak' with Bajrang explaining him the difference between wrestling on the mud and on mat.
Gandhi is known to have an inclination towards combat sports and is also trained in Aikido, a modern Japanese martial art form.
According to Rahul's aikido coach Sensei Paritos Kar, the Congress MP appeared for a test in 2013 which he passed and was subsequently awarded the black belt.
Gandhi had breakfast with the wrestlers during his meeting with them. He had milk, 'bajre ki roti' and 'saag' and was also offered some locally-grown vegetables which he took along with him.
"Today Rahul ji came to our akhada and we felt really good, he came to see how the wrestlers live and train and everyone was very happy," Bajrang said in the video.
"He (Gandhi) said he practices Jiu-Jitsu, he was telling us the moves and how it starts and I showed the basics of our game like 'dhobi pachaad' and 'dhak'."
Dhobi pachaad is a famous move in which a wrestler lifts his opponent on the shoulders and then slams him to the mat, and in dhak, the wrestler holds his opponent in a headlock before throwing him to the ground.
Gandhi's visit to the wrestling academy came days after Punia, who has been at the forefront of the protests against former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, returned his Padma Shri to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Punia took the decision following the election of Brij Bhushan's close aide Sanjay Singh as the president of the WFI. The government suspended the new committee last Sunday.
"If we don't raise the voice of our daughters and such people continue to curb them, then no daughter or sister will be able to raise their concerns in future in our country," Bajrang said.
"I didn't wan't to leave it (Padma Shri).. if our sisters and daughters are not safe then what I will do with these laurels. They are our pride, if they are safe then we will get our pride on its own."
On December 21, Sanjay was elected as the WFI president as the panel led by the close aide of Brij Bhushan won 13 of the 15 posts.
The wrestlers had demanded that no close associate of Brij Bhushan should enter the WFI administration.
Following the election, Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik announced that she would quit the sport, while World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat returned her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award to the government in protest against Sanjay's election.
Bajrang, Vinesh and Sakshi had led the five-month-long protest of wrestlers at Jantar Mantar after accusing former WFI chief Brij Bhushan of sexually exploiting several women grapplers.
Hours after getting elected as WFI President on Thursday, Sanjay Singh had announced that age group national championships will be held from December 28 in Gonda, UP.
It prompted the Sports Ministry to suspend the newly-elected panel for not following the provisions of its own constitution while taking decisions. Also, it asked the IOA to constitute an ad-hoc panel to manage the affairs of the sports body.
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Hyderabad retired professor in coma left without pension; family struggles to pay Rs 25 lakh bills
Hyderabad: A 64-year-old retired professor from Osmania University, Mohammad Ansari, is battling for life in a coma while his family struggles to meet mounting medical expenses due to an unresolved pension dispute.
According to The Times of India, Prof. Ansari, a former linguistics teacher, fell critically ill about 10 days ago due to kidney and lung complications and slipped into a coma.
His family has already spent nearly Rs 25 lakh on treatment, with daily hospital expenses ranging between Rs 30,000 and 40,000.
"We have spent about Rs 25 lakh so far. The hospital is charging between Rs 30,000 and Rs 40,000 daily. We don't have any money left. We can only afford a rehabilitation centre," said Fayyaz Ansari, brother of the retired Osmania University professor. He said that his brother had been running from pillar to post since 1996 to clear the anomalies in his service, but failed in his efforts.
Though he began working with the university in 1997 as part-time faculty and later became regular staff, the university reportedly agreed to consider his pension eligibility only from 2003, which he contested.
The family claims that despite court directions and intervention by an Assembly committee, the university did not recognise his service from 1996 for pension benefits.
"Despite selection, he was not given joining orders. He was forced to work as a part-time faculty. In 2003, after approaching the minority commission, the HC and the assembly, he finally got orders to join as full-time faculty," Fayyaz said.
Incidentally, even the LIC-linked pension, which was offered to those not eligible under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), was denied to him despite premiums being deducted for close to 15 years on the grounds that he already has OPS. The total amount paid towards the pension was returned in 2018.
Students and well-wishers have begun crowdfunding to support his treatment. Members of the Osmania University Students’ Joint Action (JAC) Committee urged authorities to intervene and release his pending benefits or arrange financial assistance.
The issue was also raised in the Assembly by CPI MLA Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao.
However, university officials maintain that pension from 1996 cannot be granted. Registrar G. Naresh Reddy said, "He was not on the varsity rolls then. How can it be considered? In fact, this issue was placed before the executive council and the govt multiple times and it was rejected."
He said that when it comes to the LIC-linked pension, it is the govt that has kept it in abeyance and that, along with Ansari, 10 other faculty members, who joined between 2001 and 2004, were waiting for it to be resolved.
