Haryana mountaineer’s award withheld

JAMLING TENZING NORGAY, ON WHOSE FATHER’S NAME THE COUNTRY’S HIGHEST ADVENTURE AWARD HAS BEEN INSTITUTED, HAD RAISED THE ISSUE OF YADAV’S ‘FALSE’ CLAIM

CHANDIGARH: The sports ministry on Friday withheld the Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award of Haryana’s mountaineer Narender Singh Yadav, who is facing allegations of faking his Everest Summit. As per the ministry sources, Narender’s award was held in abeyance pending an inquiry.

The Hindustan Times has highlighted Narender’s Everest claim comes under a cloud over the ‘morphed’ photo on Friday.

The ministry’s final list of awardees attending the ceremony on Saturday didn’t have Narender’s name.

He attended the rehearsal of the national award ceremony in New Delhi on Thursday, but today the ministry decided to withhold his award and an inquiry has been marked to validate his Everest claim.

After some Indian mountaineers questioned Everest summit claim of Yadav, who has been named for the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2020, Jamling Tenzing Norgay, on whose father’s name the country’s highest adventure award has been instituted, took up the matter and wrote to the Indian Mountaineering Foundation to look into the issue of the Yadav’s false Everest Summit claim.

“The award has been bestowed upon Yadav whose Everest accomplishments are questionable as he seems to have faked his Summit picture. No matter how and what outdoor adventure accomplishments he has to his credit, he should not be considered for the prestigious award for lack of integrity. Otherwise, it will be a blow to the national honour as the entire world (mountaineering fraternity) is looking at this issue,” said Jamling, who was part of the Everest expedition in 1996, and the experience was documented in film ‘Everest’.