Dera chief stakes claim to Dronacharya Award

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 29

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, having tasted success at the box office, now eyes posterity in the sports arena — The “Messenger of God” wants followers to remember him as a Dronacharya awardee.

That’s precisely why the dera  head, who has tried his hands at filmmaking and even bagged two “best actor” category awards, has staked claim to the country’s highest recognition for excellence in sports coaching.

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Ram Rahim, whose Sirsa-based sect is a “social welfare and spiritual organisation that preaches and practices humanitarianism and selfless services to others”, has applied for the award through the Yoga Federation of India (YFI) for apparently producing world, Asian and national-level yoga “champions”.

The YFI has recommended Ram Rahim for the award after obtaining his consent.

The Sports Ministry, which recently received the award application, is baffled at the surprise nomination, with a senior official saying: “The YFI is not even recognised by the ministry. We have 47 approved national sports federations (NSFs) and the YFI figures nowhere on that list. Moreover, yoga had been discontinued as a sport by the ministry in December 2016 after concluding that the discipline has various dimensions/arms in which competitions aren’t possible. It’s surprising that Ram Rahim and the YFI actually sent the application.”

For the record, yoga was recognised as a sport in September 2015 after the Prime Minister’s Office’s (PMO) direct intervention.

YFI president Ashok Kumar Agarwal claimed Ram Rahim had worked hard to popularise the discipline and produce world-class yoga champions.

“Almost all athletes sent by the YFI to international tournaments come out his academy. The athletes train at the dera academy and Ram Rahim personally supervises their practice sessions. We recommended him for the award after kids named him as their coach. He gave his consent to send his name for the award. The application bears his signature,” Agarwal said.

Agarwal listed four names — Neelam Insan, Karamdeep Insan, Swapnil Insan and Kirti Insan — to support the claim of producing champions. “All are from his academy and live there. They won medals at the World Championship (2015, Kuala Lumpur), Asian Championship (2016, Vietnam) and Nationals (2016 Ranchi). Based on their success at these championships, we forwarded his name for the award,” Agarwal added.

Agarwal, however, evaded the query on YFI’s de-recognition and yoga not being considered a sport. “That’s for the ministry to answer, not me. We have done out part,” he said.