View: It’s time to become a sensitive and inclusive sporting nation

In what was yet another huge moment for India, Deepa Malik followed up with a silver in shot put three days later throwing the metal orb 4.61 metres, a personal best. Devendra Jhajharia, with his second Paralympic gold in javelin, ensured India rounded it off rather superbly in Brazil.

However, compared to the national outpouring of emotion in the aftermath of PV Sindhu’s silver and Sakshi Malik’s bronze at the Olympics, the reaction to the Paralympics success was at best muted in the country.

While the athletes were celebrated in social media by the ordinary Indian sports fan, politicians, who joined the bandwagon in the aftermath of Sindhu and Sakshi’s success, mostly kept away. State governments too remained silent.

This is what looks set to change. From the way para athletes have been given a send-off to the number of sponsors who have come forward, Paralympics in India is finally getting its due. Our treatment of these super achievers will go a long way in defining us as a ‘people’ and will tell the world what kind of a society we are. Are we going to celebrate para athletes enough or are we still going to discriminate between Olympians and Paralympians?

Will Devendra be considered as decorated as Neeraj Chopra or Abhinav Bindra? Will awards and monetary rewards pour in from across the country? Will the 24/7 media which celebrated Neeraj’s homecoming for over 120 hours do even a tenth of that when Devendra, Pramod Bhagat and Palak Kohli come back to India? In the western countries, para athletes have for long been accorded the same respect as the Olympians. Medal winners have been feted in the same manner and the para games receive similar prominence in the media. In India, however, this has never been the case. We have, as a society, tended to look down upon our para athletes. We have invested little in facilities that will encourage them to take up sport. We have done very little to decorate them and turn them into national icons. Such a mindset betrays the very ideals of equality and civil liberty that the country stands for.

The Tokyo Paralympics have emerged as a major platform in transforming this trend. Tokyo has given us the opportunity to redeem ourselves and stand up to the test of our own conscience.

Each of the 54 athletes who will participate have demonstrated that it’s never about facilities and infrastructure as it is often made out to be. It’s always about the will and determination to succeed. It’s about the fire in the belly and the conviction to make a mark at the biggest stage of them all. It’s about the burning desire to make the country proud.

Taking a cue from India’s success at the recently-concluded Olympics Games, Indian sports may take another giant leap in the next couple weeks. It is time to become a sensitive and inclusive sporting nation.