For Ram Karan Singh, an Arjuna Award winner in athletics,
going for the Asian Games trial in April now looks like a far-fetched dream.
The 23-year-old, who was partially visually challenged, lost his eyesight
completely after he was injured in the police action on Thursday. The police
‘highhandedness’ took place during a protest against issuance of an ordinance
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill.
The Persons with Disabilitiess, who were a part of All India
Disabilities Alliance, were protesting outside Congress vice-president Rahul
Gandhi's residence when the police used force to evict them. They wanted to
meet Mr. Gandhi and convey their message to the President requesting him not to
sign the Ordinance on Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill as is being
planned by the UPA government.
“Earlier in the day, my friends were protesting against the
Bill at the All India Congress Committee office. In the evening, I got to know
that they were lathi-charged; some of my visually challenged friends and I went
to support them. We were protesting in front of Rahul Gandhi's residence. The
police had erected barricades and when we tried to cross them the policemen hit
us with lathis,” said Mr. Singh, talking to The Hindu.
“I was hit on my left eye and several other friends too were
injured. We were taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where the doctors told me
that the lens of my eye has been dislocated. I cannot see anything after that
incident,” he added.
Mr. Singh had lost his eyesight in an accident when he was
14 but was able to see with his right eye after he was operated upon in 2006.
That is when he applied for the CellOne Marathon in Delhi in the disabled
category and won the gold medal in athletics. This was the first step towards a
sporting career and he never looked back.
In 2010, he received a silver medal in the Asian Games; in
2011, he won a bronze in the World Championship in Turkey; and in 2012, the
prestigious Arjuna Award was conferred on him.
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