Deepa Malik

Confined to a wheelchair due to paralysis since the age of 30, Deepa Malik, now 42, an Arjuna awardee, gold medallist (two, for javelin and discus, at the Malaysian Open in April this year) and world No. 3 in F53 (using a wheelchair) in the javelin throw, missed three chances to qualify for the London Paraly-mpic Games because the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) didn’t arrange her visas in time.

Although the Sports Authority of India had finished all the paperwork, Malik could not go to Paris for international classification because her visa application had not been submitted in time. In January and March, she could not make it to Kuwait and Dubai for the international qualification. Again, her visa papers were not submitted on time.
According to sources, an athlete first submits his/her passport and forms to the PCI, which then sends it to the concerned embassy for the visa. In this case, although the para-athletes had submitted their forms and passports well in time, the PCI delayed submitting the forms, which in turn led to the cancellations.
Paris was Malik’s third chance to qualify for the 2012 Paralympic Games. She argued about this lackadaisical approach and, to make her case, her coach Naval Singh made Malik throw a javelin in front of PCI treasurer Gurucharan Singh. The throw was well beyond the qualification mark. It seems the PCI did take some action after this display of skill and determination. “My event in Paris for selection was on May 16, but the visa application reached the embassy on May 18. So the visa application was not accepted,” says Malik.
“It was a big disappointment. I am not participating in the London games because I did not get enough opportunities to qualify for the event. Of the four international classification events I was selected for, I could take part only in Malaysia because PCI could not arrange our visas in time,” says Malik.

Malik’s Selection wasn’t in our hands, says PCI
Despite having regularly thrown the qualifying mark and holding the javelin IPC Asian record of 11.67 metres in the F-53 category, para-athlete Deepa Malik missed qualifying in Malaysia for the Paralympics when her best throw did not “pierce the ground”. The one that did missed the qualifying mark by 4 cm. As per the rules, a javelin’s tip must touch the ground first, but not necessarily pierce it. The judges could not take a call and there was no video documentation, so Malik was disqualified. The federation could have sought a re-throw, but it remained silent.
India started participating in the Paralympics in 1968 and has sent Indian athletes to participate in every game since. But only men. Deepa Malik, 42, is the first Indian paraplegic sportswoman not just keen to participate in the games, but also skilled.
Sources say the PCI was “very slow”. Malik visited the visa offices many times in person to get her visa cleared.
Gurucharan Singh, the PCI treasurer who is now in London with the Indian Paralympic contingent, said Deepa Malik was out because she could not qualify and that it is not in the federation’s hands to get any player selected.
“Selection of any athlete is not in our hands and we have to follow certain norms,” he said. When asked, looking at the medal tally of Malik, whether PCI had tried for a wild card entry, Singh said, “It was tried but she could not. It’s not in our hands.”
Sharad Yadav, a para-high jumper, is shocked at how bureaucratic apathy has killed an athlete’s chance to qualify. “Does any cricketer ever visit the visa office to get his/her visa cleared?,” says Yadav.
It appears the PAI administration was reluctant to take on board a woman athlete because that just hadn’t happened before. But few are willing to go on record on this.