The 82-member squad of our boys and girls had returned home Tuesday from the Special Olympics Summer Games 2011, held in Athens bearing 57 medals are our true heroes. They have done us proud, have lifted our spirits and made us believe that beyond the swamp of hopelessness we are presently mired in deep, there does exist meadows of hope for us, the 170-million nation.
Their baggage contains 17 gold, 25 silver and 13 bronze medals, which they won during the week-long event by excelling in the eight sports they participated. And it was no mean achievement given that they had to contend with some 7500 athletes from 180 countries. Even more importantly, their victory is clear of any blemish and none of them would be appearing before the courts to answer many questions - they played clean, as clean as their lives.
That they were not given a rousing welcome at the Benazir International Airport, it was our thoughtlessness and narrow-mindedness. A victory of the nature and scale these young boys and girls brought to Pakistan should have impelled Prime Minister Gilani to be there to receive them.
Instead he opted to 'inaugurate' the not-yet-completed Zero Point Interchange instead - what can you say then of our leaders' perspectives and their preferences. We hope the government would make up for this lapse and that these wonder kids would be hosted at the Prime Minister House.
Some of them won medals, some didn't. But irrespective of this every one of the Pakistani squad deserves praise for his/her performance - because what matters is not the medal but participation which establishes the participating individual's will and determination to break the barriers of mind. These special individuals tend to set an example for the hundreds of thousands of fellow Pakistanis that no doubt mental disability is a great barrier in the way to a fuller life, but it can be pushed back.
One would like to mention each one of them, but one who comes to mind immediately is 18-year-old Adeel Ameer who bagged three gold medals including gold for the 100-meter race. Today he is the world's fastest Special runner. Then there is the 11-year-old Bakhtawar Gul who also won two gold medals. This piece wouldn't be complete without giving due credit to the hands that mined these precious metals from the deep recess of social neglect. How callous of the state that for the last four years nothing has been provided to help the mentally challenged citizens achieve a bit of fullness of life.
"We had to bear all the expenses on our own," says Ronaq Lakhani, the head of the Pakistani squad at the Special Olympics-2011. Isn't it scandalous that these less-than-normal boys and girls, who have earned the nation the much-wanted cheer at its gloomiest hour, do not figure in any inventory of the government? Not only the government should allocate funds for the promotion of this special segment of the population but also make appropriate arrangements and provide infrastructural facilities to help the Pakistani chapter of the Special Olympics. No doubt it has done the nation proud.