Success has many fathers. The same is happening with the Commonwealth gold medalist Arshad Nadeem, who won a gold medal in the Javelin competition.
Before the Tokyo Olympics, only a few sports journalists would know the name of Arshad Nadeem, a talented player from Mian Chunnu, a town in the Khanewal district. When he qualified for the final round of the Olympics, he instantly became a household name. The TV crew rushed to his coach, his hometown, and his family. He finished fifth in the competition, but he became a sports sensation in Pakistan overnight. He was showered with the announcements of cash and perks. This time, the national Javelin thrower is also being rewarded for his beyond-belief performance in the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games for claiming a historic gold medal for Pakistan.
The latest reward for the Javelin hero comes from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the form of a scholarship to help with his training for the Paris Olympics 2024. “First of all, I would like to thank Almighty Allah for making me capable enough of winning the gold medal for Pakistan. I am honoured for being awarded a scholarship by the International Olympic Committee which will help me prepare for Paris Olympics 2024,” Arshad announced the development in a video message.
“On this occasion, I would like to thank Pakistan Olympic Association, Pakistan Sports Board, and Pakistan Athletics Federation for their efforts to arrange this scholarship for me.” After the Commonwealth Games, 25-year-old Arshad is heading to Türkiye (the new name of Turkey) to participate in another international event. That is the life of a sports person. Otherwise, Arshad needs rest and treatment to nurse his elbow injury.
Other than the IOC scholarship, the national javelin hero got noticed by two-time world javelin throw champion Anderson Peters of Grenada. Arshad won the medal with an outrageous throw of 90.18 metres, setting a new record for South Asian javelin throwers. Well done, Arshad Nadeem for making us happy in these troubling times. Only sports people bring laurels from international events for Pakistan. Other than sports, it is the ugly terrorism in Pakistan which makes headlines across the world.
There are disturbing reports of the emergence of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in border areas. A Minute Mirror correspondent from Swat, Adnan Bacha, reported that the TTP militants ambushed a patrolling team of local police on Tuesday in the Kanala area of tehsil Matta of Swat and injured five police personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police, in a grenade attack. The TTP militants later held them, hostage, briefly and released them after late-night ‘negotiations’.
The term ‘negotiation’, when the sides are the government and militant, seems to prick. Sometimes dialogues are employed as the only tool to rescue the hostage. The history of dialogues with the TTP is fraught with deception, no end results and bloodbath. The government has tried to hold dialogue with the TTP several times, but every attempt brought about nothing.
The police personnel were engaged in a search operation in the hilly area of Kanala during which there was a clash with the TTP militants. As soon as the police officials were made hostage, a heavy contingent of police gheraoed the scene and the area, leaving no room for the militants to flee.
The TTP offered dialogue and soon the local elders of tehsil Matta and police officers were engaged. Citing police sources, Adnan Bacha said, “Negotiations were held for several hours, after which all the injured were referred to the police, while the Taliban were given a safe passage to flee”. A local journalist had a telephone conversation with the Taliban commander, who said that he had come to Swat after a “peace agreement” as the negotiations between their leaders with the Pakistani government were ongoing and there is a ceasefire.
The banned TTP has its own meaning of ‘ceasefire’. A ceasefire does not allow a side to injure police personnel.
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