What’s the story?
Awe-inspiring Indian mountaineer Satyarup Siddhanta discovered he was in caught in the middle of an Everest fraud when he realised that photographs of his Everest ascents had been tampered with. In a bid to call themselves ‘the first couple’ to have climbed the Everest together, an Indian couple had doctored his summit photo asserting it as theirs.
The context
In 2016, Dinesh and Tarakeshwari Rathod, an Indian couple hailing from Pune, were awarded an official summit certificate from the Nepal authorities after their alleged ascent, as they went on to claim further that they were the first couple to have scaled the peak.
The heart Of the matter
Though the Indian couple provided the authorities with photographs that they claimed to be their own, fellow climbers raised concerns after they realised that the story and photos didn’t add up and it was discovered that the couple had in reality, superimposed themselves in the photographs.
It turns out that these were Siddhanta’s photographs in the first place. While in one picture, Tarakeshwari face had been superimposed on Siddhanta’s with the national flag pasted over her hands and the colours on the boots changed, Siddhanta had been completely replaced by Dinesh in the other.
According to AFP, Siddhanta immediately recognised the people in this photograph as he clearly remembers his own experiences from the ascent. Once he compared both the photographs, it was confirmed that this was fraud.
The summit certificate for the couple has been annulled and they have been banned from visiting Nepal for 10 years.
This incident has sparked further debate on how the increasing craze over climbing the highest mountain in the world is causing disparity with respect to authenticity. Standing atop the Everest certainly adds a large value to a climber’s resume and can be a game-changer for their career.
What’s next?
Summit certificates are provided based on trust, and not ample evidence, a system that has worked within the climber community so far. Climbers have to submit a photo of themselves at the peak along with a report from government liaison officers and team leaders at the base camp to the Nepali and Chinese authorities, in order to be certified.
However, with the significant increase in numbers heading up to the Everest, the need for more validated pieces of evidence as a basis for certification has arisen. Events such as these, call for stricter rules surrounding authentication of the summits.
Author’s take
As one of the climbers says, mountaineering is meant to be honourable. In recent times, the competitive spirit has been reduced to a pressure to perform at the cost of this honour. If the climbers can’t keep their word, then the responsibility now falls on the shoulders of the authorities to make sure that the honour for those who do is maintained.
