Abu Dhabi: Surendra Bahadur Basnet and Pashupati Parajuli, two representatives of Nepal in the first Asian Paralympic Committee gathering at the capital, are still shaken by the devastation from the earthquake which ravaged the country on April 25.
Basnet, president of Nepal’s national Paralympic committee and pioneer behind the Paralympic movement in his tiny nation, along with its secretary general Parajuli have travelled to the UAE with a heavy heart and is still mourning the death of their 27-yr-old star athlete Jeet Bahadur Khadka.
“The scale of the tragedy is beyond imagination and it will take years for us to get our lives together,” said Basnet, who recollected Jeet as a youngster full of life and an example for other disabled athletes.
“I just can’t forget Jeet’s face; he was our first para athlete and medal hope and it is a huge loss for us but what can be done, as in front of nature we all are helpless,” added Basnet, who has been running the organization without any support from the government for years.
“The system in Nepal is such that the able athletes are struggling for support so when it comes to Para athletes, one can imagine. We lack basic facilities to train and tours are totally dependant on sponsorships. In short, it is a struggle. After this natural calamity, things are going to get worse of our 300-odd athletes,” said Basnet, who is hoping that some concrete structure will be in place for the countries who lack financial support after this gathering.
“This is the first time we have come under one banner for a discussion and so we are upbeat that something fruitful will come out from this. The main problem according to me is there is lot of disparity. When you are planning to support the sport, then you have to also see how much a country is developed infrastructure-wise and what they need,” felt Parajuli, who went on to add: “It won’t be wise to give the same financial assistance to a country where the government is already doing a lot and the focus has to be more on developing the third-world countries who don’t have a support system at all.
Basnet also went on to express his displeasure giving the example of the 2014 Incheon Paralympics Games where they were not allowed to take part in a dance programme as the theme had to be western.
“If you are talking about Asia then we have so many various dance forms and I didn’t understand why we had to only perform on western style when it is not the part of our culture and the Games was about us.
“Lack of unity amongst the member nations is also a big problem. Language is also a barrier and hopefully, the new president Majid Rashed will address these things and get everyone to be on the same path,” felt Basnet.
