India-Pakistan javelin rivalry at Paris Olympics sends rare peace message back home

By Aamir Latif and Ahmad Adil

KARACHI / NEW DELHI (AA) - As Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won a gold medal in the men's javelin in Paris on Thursday, thousands of miles away, his close Indian rival Neeraj Chopra's mother was among the firsts to congratulate him.

Back home, Nadeem's mother, swamped by hundreds of cheering crowds in her remote village of Mian Channu town of northeastern Punjab province, did not forget to reciprocate Chopra’s mother’s gesture immediately.

The hulking javelin thrower broke a 118-year Olympic record with a staggering 92.97-meter throw, comfortably beating his arch-rival Chopra who had to settle for a silver medal.

It not only ended Pakistan's 40-year gold medal drought but also marked the first individual gold for the South Asian country, as all of the medals have come through field hockey.

"I am very happy for him (Nadeem). He is also like a son to me," Saroj Devi, Chopra's mother, told reporters outside her home in the Panipat district of India's northern Haryana state.

"It makes no difference if he has won the gold and we have won the silver. It's all about hard work," Devi, attired in brown shalwar-kameez (a loose trouser and a shirt) and covering her head with a matching dupatta (long sheet), said in Punjabi language with a patent Haryanvi accent.

"I am happy with the silver (medal)."

Paying back in the same coin, Nadeem's mother, Razia Parveen wished Chopra luck in the future.

"He (Chopra) is a good friend and brother of Arshad. He is very much like Arshad to me," she told Anadolu.

"It's a sport. Sometimes you win and sometimes lose. No issues if he (Chopra) could not win this time. He can make it next time," she went to say.

The two mothers' magnanimity and sportsmanship earned accolades from both sides of the border as netizens took to social media platforms to praise the gesture.

"Mothers are the same" remained the top trend on social media as sports lovers from both countries shared video clips of the two.

"If governments are in the hands of mothers, they will never allow wars," commented one user, referring to a string of disputes between the two nuclear neighbors, who have fought three full-fledged wars since 1947.

Already heightened tensions between the two sides have further ebbed following India's unilateral decision to strip the disputed Jammu and Kashmir valley of longstanding special status in August 2019, prompting Islamabad to downgrade its diplomatic relations with New Delhi.

- Rivals and friends

Javelin has been a little-acknowledged sport in cricket-frenzied Pakistan.

It's Nadeem who brought this sport to the limelight in Pakistan after he finished fifth in the event in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a best attempt of 84.62m.

Chopra had won the gold medal with an 87.58m throw.

The two have faced off each other on six occasions, and it is the first time Nadeem defeated Chopra in the Paris Olympics.

- Moment of hope

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also lauded Devi for her comments about Nadeem.

“The interview of your mother showed the spirit of a sports family. The way she said about the gold medal and she said ‘he (Nadeem) is also my son’… this is the spirit. I want to congratulate the family,” Modi said in a telephone call to Chopra.

Impressed with the mothers' gestures, peace activists urged the two governments to take the lead to resume the long-stalled talks between the two arch-rivals.

Jatin Desai, a Mumbai-based peace activist, said that the atmosphere created following the two mothers' "emotional" reaction should prompt leaders of both countries to take it forward.

"Salute to Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem's mothers. In an atmosphere of hatred, such lovely sentimental comments help in building relations," Desai told Anadolu.

In the current India-Pakistan scenario, he went on to say, "comments of two mothers give us hope."

"Their comments will strengthen forces that believe in peace, friendship and love," maintained Desai.

Echoing this, Tauseef Ahmad Khan, a Karachi-based rights activist, called for "immediate" restoration of stalled talks between the two neighbors.

"Sports have mended the fences and defused tensions globally. Whether it's cricket or javelin," Khan told Anadolu.

His remarks referred to famous "cricket diplomacy" that has often come to defuse tensions between India and Pakistan at several crucial junctures.

In 1986, tensions had soared between the two countries as India launched Operation Brasstacks – a major combined military exercise in the deserts of Rajasthan state amid insurgency and Sikh separatist movement in the Indian province of Punjab.

Pakistan quickly responded with maneuvers of its forces, first mobilizing the entire 5th Corps and then the Southern Air Command, near Indian Punjab.

As the crisis heightened, Pakistan's then-President Ziaul Haq secured an invitation from the Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) to watch a cricket match between the two countries in February 1987.

Ziaul Haq did not meet formally with then-Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, both of them met briefly at the airport lounge. According to BBC reports, he told Gandhi that Pakistan had a nuclear bomb.

Tensions diminished soon and a month later both countries agreed to withdraw 150,000 troops in the Kashmir area, followed by a second agreement to withdraw more troops in the desert area.

"Problems are always there but they are meant to be resolved. The path of peace awaits us," Khan said.