Thanks Avinash for posting this - we organised this press conference so that the voice of those who faced this harrowing incident do not die down. We have also drafted a Charter of demands which will be sent to the authorities and we are hoping to get organisations/concerned individuals will sign this.
Since I cannot send the charter of demands as an attachment, i am trying to figure out how to share it in this list. Hopefully some of the list-members will sign it as well. With regards Shampa Sengupta On Sat, Mar 28, 2015 at 12:51 PM, avinash shahi <shahi88avin...@gmail.com> wrote: > > http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31812&articlexml=Bengal-para-athletes-reveal-their-nightmare-28032015021039 > Kolkata > TIMES NEWS NETWORK > No Separate Toilets For Male And Female Participants In Ghaziabad > > Not many in Bengal would have heard of Rubia Chatterjee. A > para-athlete from Halisahar, she won three gold medals in the > recently-held National championships in Ghaziabad. > Back home, Rubia should have been basking in the glory of her > odd-defying exploits in the March 20-22 meet. Instead, what the > athlete with a disability in her right leg, below the knee, as well as > other medal-winners from the state are talking about is a harrowing > tale of "inhuman, unthinkable experience." > > Ever since TOI threw light on the shabby facilities provided to > participants, more details have been emerging of the ill-treatment > meted out to the athletes at the Ghaziabad championship -organized > under the umbrella of Paralympic Committee of India (PCI). > > "We were put up in a partially constructed building. There were no > proper beds for us and we had to sleep on floors. More shockingly , we > had to stay awake on the first night because the beds got wet and > floors flooded following leakage in the pipeline. There was nobody to > help us till the pipeline got repaired the next afternoon," Rubia said > on Friday . > > Lila Saha, who won gold in discus throw, had another horrific story to > narrate. "There were no separate toilets for males and females. Also, > the doors in the rooms allotted to female athletes didn't have latches > and male athletes from some other states often entered our rooms, > taking us by surprise. We have been debating about women's safety in > recent times. What about this?" asked Lila, who lost her left limb > when she was just nine. > > Somnath Malo, an Asian gold medallist in a wheelchair event, was > shocked to see what was on offer.The athletes on wheelchair were put > up on the first floor, instead of the ground floor, and there was no > passage for them to move up. "We used to crawl across the stairs to > get into our room while other athletes offered help in carrying the > wheelchairs," said Malo, who won the 100m race on crutch in Ghaziabad. > > Bengal sent an 11-member squad to the meet and returned with eight > gold and one silver medal. The top two in each event have qualified > for the International Para Open Games, to be held in New Delhi from > May 2-9. > > Bhaskar Mukherjee, a former international para-athlete and now Bengal > Paralympic Association secretary, had accompanied the athletes to > Ghaziabad. He felt the choice of the venue for such a meet left a lot > to be desired. > > "It's a harrowing journey since the beginning. We reached Ghaziabad > via train at around 2 am (on March 19). The organizers were supposed > to send a car early in the morning, but it came only at midday. What > was allotted for us as breakfast was served as lunch. The dish > included oily puri, simple dal and boiled potatoes with spices > sprinkled on them. On eaten that, most of our athletes fell sick and > complained of stomach upset.There was no doctor around and I had to > move out to buy medicines for them," Mukherjee told TOI. > > No wonder, Saheb Hussain -a triple gold-winner in Ghaziabad -is trying > to erase the experience from memory. "I went to Ghaziabad with a > dream. Despite winning three gold medals, I still feel like crying the > moment I think about what we had to go through there," maintained the > runner with 75 per cent blindness. > > The Civilian Welfare Foundation, an NGO, has come forward to help > these para-athletes. Demanding complete revamp of the PCI and direct > vigilance from Sports Authority of India at such meets in the future, > the CWF plans to raise its voice across the country against the plight > of para-athletes. > > > -- > Avinash Shahi > Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU > > > > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of > mobile phones / Tabs on: > > http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, > please visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of > the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
