*DoT Kathmandu to open probe
Rajesh Dhar
JAMMU, June 26: Nahida Manzoor, a 26-year old Kashmiri woman, who claimed to have successfully scaled the world’s highest peak, has reportedly ‘doctored’ a photograph to earn her summit certificate in the spring climbing season.
Nahida has been accused of doctoring Bhawna Dehariya’s photograph atop the Mt Everest on May 22, 2019, the day she claimed to have scaled the highest peak in the world.
Bhawna is a woman climber from Chindwara in Madhya Pardesh.
According to the officials at the Department of Tourism (DoT) Kathmandu, Nahida Manzoor received her summit certificate on June 13, 2019 as she claimed to have climbed Mt Everest on May 22, 2019.
“We have now found her claim very suspicious though she has already been awarded with a summit certificate ,” Meera Acharya, Director at the Department of Tourism, Kathmandu said, adding that the photograph Nahida provided to DoT looked like a ‘morphed’ version of the summit photo submitted by Bhawna.
“Nahida was part of 11-member expedition led by Gurinder Singh. The DoT issued a summit certificate to her after team leader Singh, Snowy Horizon Treks and Expeditions and team’s liaison officer authenticated her claims,” Acharya informed.
“The DoT will open a probe into the case at the earliest,” Acharya said.
According to media reports surfacing from Kathmandu, fellow climbers also claimed that Nahida had never reached the summit of Mt Everest on May 22, while her climbing guide Nima Kancha Sherpa abandoned her at the South, Col Bhawna, a member of Eco Everest Expedition led by Anita Devi, had , however scaled Mt Everest on May 22, according to a DoT official.
“Nahida has been accused of doctoring Bhawna’s photo atop the Mt Everest on May 22,” Ratnesh Pandey, another Indian climber shared.
Bodhraj Bhandari, Managing Director at Snowy Horizon Treks said that his company recommended for summit certificates to eight members including Nahida after they claimed they stood atop the roof of the world.
Police Inspector Dilli Bahadur Thapa, who was assigned as a liaison officer for expedition, also authenticated Nahida’s claim, recommending her a summit certificate.
“Like many other Los, Thapa had never stayed at the base camp in the spring season,” expedition organisers said.
In 2016, Indian Police Constable Dinesh Rathod and his wife Tarakeshwari, had been sacked from the Force for faking Mt Everest climb and banned from climbing in Nepal for 10 years.
Now, Nahida’s future is under scanner as the DoT Kathmandu has decided to probe the issue at an earliest.
If she comes out clean from the probe it will be a great news for the people of the entire State of Jammu and Kashmir. However, if her accusation is proved correct, it will be a dark moment in the sporting history of Jammu and Kashmir.
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