बेबाक · Editorial
India's 62 Asian Para Games medals should change how the republic treats disability
India's para-athletes have earned a top-five Asian finish; that should push the republic to make sport and public life accessible to every disabled citizen, not only the champions.
A record worth honouring
India's para-athletes have finished fifth at the 2026 Asian Para Games in Japan with 62 medals, built on throwing, high jump and sprinting. Sachin Khilari led a clean sweep of the men's F46 shot put, and Praveen Kumar set a Games record in the high jump. The campaign started strongly: on the first day India won 11 medals, four gold, five silver and two bronze. Mona Agarwal, Nishad Kumar, Soumya and Rinku took the golds. This is a serious sporting achievement and deserves to be recognised as one, without condescension or a charity framing.
Excellence from every corner
The medals came from across the country. Sheetal Devi, a 19-year-old archer from Jammu and Kashmir, scored 704 points from 72 arrows, with 57 perfect 10s and 32 Xs. One report describes this as matching the women's compound para record and another as equalling the world record, so the exact standing should await official ratification. From Andhra Pradesh, V Ramani won bronze in the women's 1,500m T-11 category, and B Ravi Karthik won bronze in the 100m freestyle. A squad drawn from many states reflects the plural India the Constitution describes, one in which talent is not confined to a region or a class.
The honest tension
There are two serious readings of this result. The first is that it vindicates sustained investment: athletes do not reach a fifth-place finish without coaching, equipment, classification support and competition exposure. The second is that elite success can hide everyday exclusion. A disabled child still needs a ramp to enter a school, an accessible track to train on and a coach who understands their classification before any medal is possible. Both readings are fair. Treating the medal table as proof that the work is finished would be as mistaken as dismissing the medals as mere symbolism.
Pride, with a duty attached
Pulse Bharat's view is that the pride is earned and the duty follows from it. These athletes are not exceptions to be celebrated once and then forgotten. They are evidence of what disabled Indians can achieve when barriers are removed. A medal table measures what a squad of athletes achieved despite the system. The national task is to measure what the system does for the millions who never reach a podium. Cash rewards after a victory are welcome but they come at the end of the journey. The real investment has to happen at the start, in districts, schools and public grounds, where much potential may currently be lost.
What should follow
Three steps are feasible. First, the Union sports and social justice ministries, working with state sports departments, should publish a district-level map of accessible training facilities and classification camps, so families know where a disabled child can begin. Second, standout athletes such as Sheetal Devi, Sachin Khilari and Praveen Kumar should be offered paid roles as mentors and coaches, so their expertise goes back into the pipeline rather than ending with their competitive careers. Third, public reporting on para-sport funding should be outcome-based, counting participants, coaches and facilities rather than only podium finishes. The goal should be a republic in which the next Sheetal Devi is discovered early rather than by chance.
A medal table measures what a squad of athletes achieved despite the system; the national task is to measure what the system does for the millions who never reach a podium.
What this editorial rests on
Drawn from our live multi-newsroom feed — read the reporting at source.
An editorial is the considered opinion of the FarziUPSC desk, argued from the sourced reporting above and written under our published persona, बेबाक. We name institutions, not parties. If we are wrong, we will say so. How we work →