Sport and Our Politics

 

Vinesh Phogat 

( from Vinesh Phogat disqualified: What we know so far on Indian wrestler's CAS hearing. 10 points (msn.com)

When the Indian wrestler, Vinesh Phogat, was disqualified from her event in the Olympic games, it led to ill-concealed mirth among a section of Indians who are sympathetic to the ruling alliance. The underlying sentiment appeared to be “serve her right”, for having dared to defy the government and one of its minions who used to run the Wrestling Federation of India. The opposition, on the other hand went to town hinting that there was a conspiracy to do her in by the establishment with the tacit encouragement of the powers that be.

It reminded me of the last World Cup. Or to be more accurate, the last-to-last World Cup. Cricket World Cups come so thick and fast nowadays that one loses count. I mean the one in which India did so well throughout but lost spectacularly in the finals in its own den. The Prime Minister who had come to bask in the success of the Indian team had to console the team instead. At that time, there was another ill-concealed sense of gratification among those parts of the population that is opposed to the ruling party. There was a lot of talk about how the Prime Minister brought ill luck to the team and a sense of satisfaction that his attempt to hog the limelight at the cricketers’ expense was foiled.

The sad part of both these episodes is that it brings to the fore the fact that none of these two sections of society has any love lost for their country. For, when a sportsman represents the country, he (as well as the country itself) has invested a lot in him or her. I am not talking only about money; the sportsperson has also invested a lot of effort, determination and has sacrificed much in order to reach the level of expertise that has got him to the highest level of the sport. And when he wears the Indian shirt, (s)he represents India, not the ruling party, nor does (s)he represent the opposition. If you see fit to feel pleased at his or her defeat because of political considerations, it says more about you than the sportsman, or even the politicians who are out to exploit their success or defeat for political purposes.

This brings me to the point I was trying to make. This sad state of affairs only proves how terribly politically divided we have become. I guess that it always will be that people will have political opinions and some will hold to these with more vehemence than others, but to allow it to colour your support to sportspersons who are representing the country is reprehensible. All sportspersons wearing India colours merit our support. After all, when they win a medal or a cup, it will reflect on all Indians, not on anyone in particular.

What is the cause of this sort of distortion in the Indian mindset?  After all, people held political opinions all along, but this never reflected on the sportspersons. When India won, it was a victory of all Indians and when P T Usha fell short, it was a disaster for all Indians. One did not see a section happy at her loss. Why the change today?

I think that the ruling dispensation must take the majority of the blame for this. Over the past 10 or more years a culture has been foisted on us “either you are with us or you are against us”. And if you are against us, you are antinational, a Chinese, American, Russian or perhaps a CIA agent.  Again, this is not entirely new in Indian political discourse, but the vehemence with which it is being pushed is perhaps new. This has led to a You vs Us divide which is tearing the country apart in many ways.

In this too, the Bengali can take pride in the fact that we were perhaps the first to promote the                “Amra and Ora “(Us or them”) thesis. Since 1977, this had become the ruling mantra in Bengal and has been taken up by all sections of political opinion with gusto. The man who put it in words was none other than our late lamented honest, chain smoking, bhadralok leader who taught us all about Marquez, Mayakovski and sundry filmmakers. May he rest in peace in his socialist paradise.

This nasty idea has now spread all over India thanks to an even nastier political ideology which hold sway over us today. Perhaps the time has come for ordinary people to call out such behaviour and bring to an end to this culture of the “other”. Then a defeat will be “our” defeat, and a win can be celebrated by all of us.