'Goonga Pehlwan' Virender Singh urges Haryana government to recognise deaf athletes

Singh,
who
was
born
in
Sasroli
near
Jhajjar
in
Haryana,
cannot
speak
or
hear.
On
Wednesday
(November
10),
he
posted
a
picture
of
himself
sitting
on
the
footpath
outside
the
Haryana
Bhawan
here
with
his
Padma
Shri,
Arjuna
Award
and
other
international
medals.

“Honourable
Chief
Minister
ML
Khattar,
I
am
sitting
on
the
footpath
of
your
residence
Delhi
Haryana
Bhawan
and
I
will
not
move
from
here
till
you
don’t
give
equal
rights
to
deaf
players
like
the
para-athletes.
When
the
Centre
gives
us
equal
rights,
then
why
not
you?”
Singh
tweeted.

There
are
no
Paralympic
categories
for
athletes
who
are
only
deaf
and
the
International
Committee
of
Sports
for
the
Deaf
(ICSD)
is
the
body
that
conducts
sports
events
specifically
for
them.

The
Deaflympics
is
recognised
by
the
International
Paralympic
Committee
but
deaf
athletes
are
not
a
part
of
the
more
celebrated
Paralympic
Games.
Singh
received
the
Padma
Shri
from
President
Ram
Nath
Kovind
at
a
ceremony
at
the
Rashtrapati
Bhavan
here
on
Tuesday,
a
photo
of
which
was
tweeted
by
Khattar,
congratulating
the
celebrated
grappler
who
inspired
an
acclaimed
documentary
on
his
life
called
‘Goonga
Pehelwan’.

“It
is
a
matter
of
pride
for
all
the
people
of
the
state
that
the
son
of
Haryana
and
para
wrestler
of
freestyle
wrestling,
Mr
Virender
Singhji
has
been
honoured
with
the
‘Padma
Shri’ award.
Hearty
congratulations
and
best
wishes
to
him
for
this
award,”
Khattar
had
tweeted.

To
this,
Singh,
who
has
won
three
gold
and
a
bronze
medal
in
the
Deaflympics
while
competing
in
the
74
kg
weight
division,
reiterated
that
he
wants
the
same
rights
on
prize
money
and
accolades
as
para-athletes,
adding
that
he
has
also
spoken
to
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
regarding
the
same.

“Chief
Minister,
if
you
consider
me
as
a
para-athlete,
then
why
don’t
you
give
me
the
rights
that
come
with
the
para
title.
“For
the
past
four
years,
I
have
been
running
from
pillar
to
post.
I
am
a
junior
coach
even
today
and
have
not
received
any
cash
award.
Yesterday
I
spoke
about
this
with
PM
Modi,
now
the
decision
is
in
your
hand,”
he
wrote
on
his
Twitter
page.