Times of India: Chennai: Saturday,
September 21, 2013.
A day after
the sports ministry decided not to confer the Arjuna Award on Renjith
Maheshwary, the triple-jumper says he is not ready to give up without a fight.
"I have been wronged. I'm not one to hanker after awards. But the
humiliation and emotional anguish that the whole episode caused me and my
family has been immense. More than the award, I am concerned about my
credentials as a fair athlete."
Maheshwary
intends to use the Right to Information (RTI) channel to seek a reply from the
ministry with regard to the documents in its possession on the basis of which
the decision to deny him the award was taken.
"I plan
to file an RTI over the matter. If I was ineligible for the award in the first
place, why was my application accepted in the last three years? Also, to be
told first that my award has been put on hold hours before the ceremony is
unjustified. It seems the whole issue is driven by vested interests," he
told TOI.
Maheshwary
won the triple jump title at the 46th National Athletic Championships in 2008,
but later tested positive for the banned stimulant, ephedrine. "After my
return from the Beijing Olympics, I was suffering from cough and cold for which
I had to take medication. I was unaware that it would transpire into something
of this magnitude. It is only now that I read through news reports that the lab
did not have the requisite accreditation and had I appealed against the
decision it would not have come to this."
Insisting
that he was not handed a suspension, Maheshwary adds: "After hearing me
out, they ( AFI) warned me not to use any medicine if it was not certified by
the federation doctor. But not for once was anything regarding a ban
communicated to me."
Saying that
the decision reeked of double standards, he said: "On what premise was
Aparna Popat given the Arjuna in 2006, after getting a three-month ban for
testing positive for a banned substance in 2000?"