Well, being a journalist, I spent a lot of time each day consuming breaking news and the most viral and sensational stories. In search of the news, I contact my colleagues, visit fields, see the social media handles of politicians and government officials, advertisements, posters, government websites, and sometimes look right and left whenever I go and come forth for the field work ( to which I mostly travel by my two-wheeler). In fact, most of the time, I keep my eyes and ears open so that I may come across something worth sharing through our news portal Timeline.

Recently, I came across a sensational news that India is hosting the 12th edition of the World Para-athletics Championships, which will take place from September 27 to October 5, 2025, at the Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Stadium in New Delhi. This is one of the first and the largest Para sports events ever held in India. Over 1,000 athletes were to compete for 186 medal events (101 men’s, 84 women’s, and one mixed).

(Why I call it sensational news, because I was literally astonished after hearing from one of my friends who is to appear for the Sports Authority of India (SAI)’s interview for some administrative posts, when she arranged the passes for the event for some knowledge gain.)

In the last one or two months, I have visited New Delhi, through its length and breadth, in search of stories, and I came across many advertisements and posters depicting the government’s achievements, political events, and rallies, Prime Minister and Home Minister’s programs, however, i did not come across even a poster which could have promted me go and get a ticket for an event of such a large scale as World Championship.

In the last few days after knowing about the event, I wondered if it could be because of that I missed noticing the hoardings and advertisements, as I have recently believed the axiom that ‘eyes see what the mind knows’. Bewildered by my lack of attention, I arranged a VIP pass, expecting seamless access to the event, so that I could connect with para-athletes and share their stories or other related news.

In the past, I had a chance to visit the JLN Stadium in 2010 during the Commonwealth Games held in India, and I found that the stadium was almost fully occupied and the media extensively covered the event. When I reached the JLN Stadium after more than a decade, I was in my subconscious mind expecting the audience, media coverage, and the presence of celebrities, same awareness among the people of the event.

On October 2, 2025, I went to the JLN Stadium after covering around 7-8 kilometers; however, to my amusement, despite the fact that my brain now knows, my eyes could not see even one advertisement on the way towards the stadium. I again thought it was my lack of attention or skipping the banners amid the hustle and bustle on the roads. But, astonishingly, I observed that this was not due to my lack of attention; rather, the lack of attention on the part of the government and the officials who took the responsibility to hold the World Para-athletics Championship 2025 in New Delhi, India.

After I entered the stadium, the first session of the day was about to over and I had reached the last hour of the remaining games of session 1. I could not resist myself taking images of the thousands of empty chairs in general and VIP sections both (Image Credit: Uzma Parveen).

I again doubted that I might get late, and this is possible that the audience must have left by now. So, I remained there for the evening session of the day. But, still, I struggled to see the crowd and audience who would have been cheering for the athletes who came from over 100 countries to participate. Not only the arrival, but the presence of over 1000 athletes participating from all across the globe is worth considering, as they are not normal; their travel, accommodation, preparation, struggle, and challenges are unique. I am sure that the Indian government officials must have gone through additional efforts while planning and preparing for hosting the para-athletes in India.

The absence of mainstream media was equally daunting; I could not see any big or even small media channels, which are usually present everywhere, every time, before I reached any venue in my last 1.5 years of career in media.

Without doubting the efforts of government officials and the para-sport policy of the government, I tried to understand the real reason behind the absence of an audience or the presence of only a meager audience. I talked to a few Indian officials, Indian para-athletes, foreign sportspersons, and foreign officials (to have a clear picture of the para-championships in other countries).

When I talked to a few aspiring para-athletes from India about the championship and India’s efforts in para sports, they replied, “The lack of marketing is one of the major reasons behind the lesser awareness among the viewers and participants”.

India’s Para Athletes On The Need Of Marketing The Events pic.twitter.com/3DeoGA0Ne0

— Timeline. (@timelinelatest) October 3, 2025

While talking with SAI official Mr. Sridharan, he said, “The lack of funds allocated to sports per capita in India by the government is one of the reasons that the authority faces currently. More funds must be allocated to sports to spread awareness, prepare youth for participation, and remove the gap between main cities and small towns. Also, lack of media attention is one of the major reasons that the audience is not coming to watch the championship”.

One more official of the Paralympic Committee, however, showed optimism and confidence that India is ready to host the Olympics 2036 and has immense talent to represent, and remained oblivious of the fact of the absence of the audience in the stadium and the lack of media coverage.

To clear my doubts further and grasp a larger picture, I talked to the timer Christophe, who is basically from France, and has had a large career in the sports field. Christophe told me that last time, when he was in Dubai in 2019, during the para-athletics championship, he saw a similar number of audience. “The stadium was almost empty there too, but in India, we were expecting a larger audience as the population is large”, he said.

I also talked to a New Zealand para 200m sprinter, who shared that this is the least number of audience he observed in the last four championships he participated earlier. “At least 10,000 audience members were present during the para-championships”, the para sprinter told me.

The experiences of these people and others I talked to raise a question about the negligence of the government and also government officials as to why, despite being a strong contender and performing so well in para-athletics championships on foreign soils, India remained far behind in terms of awareness and sensitisation about the 2025 World Para-athletics Championship.

The capacity of the Indian Sports system is significantly robust, which has been seen in the past during the Commonwealth Games. India can easily host the Olympics 2036; however, the success of the para Championship would have given an additional edge to India’s credibility to host another global sports event.