NEW DELHI: India’s Olympic javelin gold medallist Neeraj Chopra said it was now “completely out of the question” that rival Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan will attend his meet in Bengaluru next month following Tuesday’s deadly attack in Indian-held Kashmir.
Relations between nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan have plummeted to their lowest level in years after the killing of 26 tourists on Wednesday.
A day before the attack, Chopra had announced that the world’s top throwers, including Paris Olympics champion Nadeem, had been invited to the first Neeraj Chopra Classic on May 24, an event he hoped would pave the way for a Diamond League meet in India one day.
However, the attack in Kashmir prompted heavy criticism of Chopra’s decision to invite Nadeem, even though it was unlikely the Pakistan thrower was going to attend.
“There has been so much talk about my decision to invite Arshad Nadeem to compete in the Neeraj Chopra Classic, and most of it has been hate and abuse,” Chopra, who won gold in Tokyo and silver in Paris, said in a social media post on Friday.
“The invitation I extended to Arshad was from one athlete to another nothing more, nothing less. The aim of the NC Classic was to bring the best athletes to India and for our country to be the home of world-class sporting events.
“After all that has taken place over the last 48 hours, Arshad’s presence at the NC Classic was completely out of the question.”
Chopra said he was deeply hurt to see his and his family’s integrity being questioned in abusive social media posts and also highlighted the targeting of his mother, Saroj, for her statement after the Paris Games last year in which she described Arsjad as akin to her son.
“They haven’t even left my family out of it,” said Chopra.“I also find it difficult to understand how people switch opinions. When my mother — in her simplicity — had made an innocent comment a year ago, there was an outpouring of praise for her views. Today, the same people haven’t held back from targeting her for that very same statement.”
“I, meanwhile, will work even harder to ensure that the world remembers India and looks at it with envy and respect for all the right reasons….so it hurts to see my integrity being questioned. It pains me that I have to explain myself to people who are targeting me and my family, with no good reason.
“We are simple people, please don’t make us out to be anything else. There are so many false narratives that certain sections of the media have created around me, but just because I do not speak up, it doesn’t make it true.”
Media reports said Arshad, Pakistan’s first individual Olympic gold medallist, had opted not to attend the Bengaluru meet, which clashed with his training schedule for the Asian Championships in South Korea next month.
“The (NC) Classic event is from 20th May (May 24) whereas I am scheduled to leave for Korea on 22nd May for the Asian Athletics Championship,” Arshad told the Press Trust of India news agency, adding he had been training hard for the Asian Championship which will be held in Gumi, South Korea, from May 27 to 31.
The soured relations between the two countries also spilled over to the sports world earlier this year when India’s cricket team refused to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy and played all their matches, including the March 9 final, in Dubai.
Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2025
