Bhubaneswar: On the second day of iconic para athletic event at Kalinga Stadium, the IndianOil 20th National Para Athletic Championship, 2022, was graced by Odisha Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal.
Sports Secretary Vineel Krishna, Deepa Malik, President Paralympic Committee of India, Chief Patron Paralympic India Avinash Rai Khanna, President India ability Para Sports Academy KK Singhal. The crescendo of “Jai Hind” reverberated across the stadium 1000 athletes after the National Anthem.
Giving a brief introduction about His Excellency, his exalted academic achievements and pursuits as a writer, his celebrated book on Bhagvad Gita “ Non-attached Attachment “ the President PCI, expressed her sincerest of gratitude for having agreed to grace the occasion in such short notice. She sought his blessings to make the Indian Para Sports a global pride.
Prof Lal began his address with “Jai Jagannath” and addressed the congregation of 1000 para athletes as “Divyangs” and explained that it meant the one with a divine body part. He said according to his understanding and accumulated knowledge and also the perception of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, the people who are differently abled are people with divine parts. And he considered them as celestial and divine beings who can rise upto any occasion and prove themselves to be in higher plane in terms of endurance and spirituality and can diffuse any crisis in the world ushering in a new order of peace.
He quoted several contextual references from Bhagvad Gita and his vivid explanations mesmerized the crowd . He ended his speech with Jai Hind and Bande Utkal Janani. and proceeded to give away medals to several winners of various category and various disciplines. Amongst them was the star of Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, Yogesh Kathunia , Silver medallist , Discuss throw, F-56 event. He was awarded the Gold medal for the same event & category at nationals today.
Other dignitaries like Bhupinder Singh, Avinash Rai Khanna , KK inghal, Subhajit Ghosh, ED Indian Oil & State Head also shared the dais with the HE during the medal ceremony.
