It would have been an embarrassingly humiliating Olympic drought for India at Paris but for young Manu Bhaker, barely out of her teens, shooting two bronze medals and missing another by a whisker! She is certainly gold material unless spoiled by flattery from charlatans and fawning by the media. Hope her ever-supportive parents would not allow that to happen!
While so, I am more of a sports watchman than a sportsman. So, I sat glued to the ‘idiot box’ from Day 1 till the end of the Paris Olympic Games. No wonder like all ‘patriotic Indians’, I was also furious at India’s pathetic performance coming at No: 71, which is near the bottom while being top-most in the world in population. I was incensed at the comparative performance analysis floating in the media, particularly these types since I have been hearing from several circles that under the ‘Vishwaguru’ we have already conquered the world in GDP and diplomacy!
I briefly lapped up the version of the ‘de jure’ President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) P.T. Usha that it is the athletes who are responsible for this pathetic show because it is their job to manage their own affairs and win medals for the country. Isn’t Vinesh Poghat the epitome of such mismanagement? Who asked her to protest against the sexual predators of the Wrestling Federation of India, get dragged on the streets by the Delhi Police, gain weight in the process and get herself disqualified from the gold medal contest?
But, fortunately, the ‘de facto’ President of IOA and International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Nita Ambani had a different take. To her winning Olympic medals is a team work and India would do so in double digits in the Paris Games by giving their best performance. She backed it up by setting up an ‘India House’ at La Villette, and announcing that the day India hosts the Olympics is “not far”. In this she was only backing up Prime Minister Narendra Modi who in October last year had proclaimed India’s bold intent to bid for the 2036 Olympics, pledging to spare no effort to fulfil the dream of 1.4 billion people in the country.
Full of patriotic fervour, Nita Ambani had added: “India has arrived. It is time that the flame that was first lit in Athens must light the sky in our ancient land Bharat. The day is not far when India will host the Olympic Games. Let this be our collective resolve at the opening of the India House.” And she made it a point to be visible on the Olympic Screen much more than all the medal-winning athletes put together! One thought that she was winning ‘gold’ by the hour!
If only money could buy Olympic medals Nita Ambani would have been proven true many times over, because as soon as Manu Bhaker struck bronze, Mansukh Mandaviya, Union minister of youth affairs and sports, claimed that it was because of the government spending Rs 2 crore on the young lady that she won the Olympic medal. He gave the entire credit to Prime Minister Modi’s Khelo India programme and the money spent on her rather than to the inherent talent and grit of the girl.
Impressed by the Union minister’s ‘business’ acumen, I made a quick ‘back of the envelope’ calculation. If only Madam Nita Ambani had spent a fraction of the Rs 5,000 crore she did on the wedding and countless pre-weddings of her son, India would have hauled up more golds than the USA and China put together proving the doubting Thomases that we are the real Vishwaguru! But it was not to be because for the Ambanis ‘shaking of legs’ by the celebrities is more precious than Olympic medals!
Be that as it may, these musings led me to the Olympic Motto which till the Tokyo Olympics of 2020 was ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ meaning “Faster, Higher, Stronger.” Since then ‘Communiter’ (together) has been added highlighting the need for solidarity during difficult times such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The motto now reads “Citius, Altius, Fortius–Communiter” in Latin and “Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together” in English.
Only by abiding by this motto will our Olympians be able to beat the best in the world and win medals for the country – Gold, Silver and Bronze – and not by indulging in bravados and money-mongering. And the Olympic community is nothing but a microcosm of the larger community which is “India that is Bharat.” And what has this larger community been in nearly a decade?
In what we have become ‘Faster’? – in scandals, scams and frauds including electoral, examination and financial! In what we have gone ‘Higher’? – in unemployment, poverty and inequity! In what we have become ‘Stronger’? – in communalism, corruption and crony-capitalism! As far as ‘Togetherness’ is concerned we have gone in a totally opposite direction of divisiveness and polarisation.
This takes me to the concept of governance and its near-total collapse in almost all spheres. In 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government came to power with two battlecries: “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance” and ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas.” In a democracy as distinct from an autocracy, governance should be ‘society-centered.’ It would include the government, which is its dominant part, but transcend it by taking in the private sector and civil society. All three are critical for sustaining human, economic and social development.
Governments represented by the ruling establishments in the centre and the states create a conducive political, administrative, legal and living environment. The business sector represented by trade, commerce, agriculture and industry promotes enterprise and generates jobs and income. Civil society represented by the voluntary sector facilitates interaction by mobilising groups to participate in economic, social and political activities. It also resolves conflicts. Because each has weaknesses and strengths, governance is brought about through constructive interaction among all three. In short, while governments in India have been reduced to politico-bureaucratic proprietorships, governance is a joint venture. This is a huge difference.
Being a joint venture (JV), governance should adhere to certain functional norms and principles such as the involvement of stakeholders in the decision-making process; transparency and accountability at all governmental and societal levels; citizen’s participation in the process of social and public welfare, economic growth and development; a balanced relationship between all bodies of government and civil society; social auditing of government programs and policies; mandatory establishment of ombudsman institutions and their fearless functioning; civil supremacy over the armed forces and an efficient and non-discriminatory judicial system. Most important of all there should be enough space for the civil society represented by the voluntary sector to freely express its views and opinions on the ‘development’ agenda of the governments without fear or favour.
According to the World Bank: “Civil society…refers to a wide array of organizations: community groups, non-governmental organizations [NGOs], labour unions, indigenous groups, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, and foundations.” The term became popular in political and economic discussions in the 1980s, when it started to be identified with non-state movements that were defying authoritarian regimes. When mobilised, civil society – sometimes called the “third sector” (after government and commerce) – has the power to influence the actions of elected policy-makers and businesses.
Scope of civil society activities includes: holding institutions to account and promoting transparency; raising awareness of societal issues; delivering services to meet education, health, food and security needs; promoting arts, sports and culture; assisting disaster management, preparedness and emergency response; bringing expert knowledge and experience to shape policy and strategy; giving power to the marginalized; and encouraging citizen engagement in matters of government and governance. And every sportsperson and athlete comes from the civil society and not the government.
It is this civil society that India’s national security advisor calls “new frontiers of war, that can be subverted, suborned, divided, manipulated to hurt the interests of a nation… And therefore should be hounded, hunted and shut down.” This has been the policy of the Indian state ever since 2014 which is being meticulously followed and implemented.
In the event civil society and its various voluntary organisations stand completely decimated, drained and incapable of nurturing and promoting excellence in any field allowing the mediocre to take over. And as everyone knows mediocrity could trickle down, prosper at home, occupy vantage positions, rot governance but cannot stand up to international competition. This is what has happened to sports also and hence the Olympic drought.
L’affaire Vinesh Phogat is a standing example. But there is a silver lining. India might not have won gold medals in Paris and faced drought. But this Olympics has thrown up two ‘Diamonds’ from the hinterland of Haryana – Vinesh Phogat and Manu Bhaker. In preserving and promoting the purity and strength of them and their ilk lies the future of India’s Olympic hopes!
M.G. Devasahayam is the founder-president of the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association and is a former president of the Chandigarh Olympic Association.
