Edits | September, 2024

The dismal presentation of Indian athletes in the Paris Olympics could be just a story of dirty political inroads. Even the medal winner Vinesh Phogat is now being pitched for politics to win a few seats for warring parties in the upcoming state elections. How dismal and compelling the sports landscape is can be visualised from the fact that Phogat is now going to run for state elections rather than running for more championships in wrestling or pleading for her lost opportunity for a medal despite one of the greatest performances in women’s wrestling for India.

Now the rhetoric of winning the medal is long gone, handled deplorably by the people on the ground. But there is a smell that someone is getting back at her at the cost of the country’s pride, and seemingly, it is acceptable to us all. Without being critical of it, Indian athletes and Indian sports teams need to gear up and train for better performance in international games. The level of sportsmanship has increased manifold, with new international records all the time, and even if Indians were to compete at the pre-charted levels, it would not be enough to get medals. We are about 10 years behind the rest of the world while competing in international games. It usually takes three generations of athletes and sportspeople to reach a level that could compete with the West. Presumably, we are on the right track, and the need is for a better diet, intensive training, and cheerful sportsmanship sans the politics behind it.

PM Modi’s recent visit to Russia and Ukraine did not seem to bring up a buzz as it used to do earlier, largely because PM Modi did not achieve politically in the elections what he had claimed. Even the international press seems to have downplayed PM Modi’s visits. The Ukraine-Russia war has escalated from one level to another. With the recent drone strikes inside Russia, the war is going to escalate to a completely new level. Not much is reported about it in the Indian press, though. NATO and the US do not really care about what happens to Ukraine as long as they keep fighting Russia on Ukrainian soil, which is the only entry passage bordering Russia. Technically, the Ukrainians should give up to the Russians to cease this war and level out with the West, but that is neither desired by the rich warring leadership of the Ukrainians nor the oil-gas-rich Russians.

The Calcutta Nirbhaya episode is many notches above that of the one Delhi witnessed during the reign of Congress with CM Sheila Dikshit. If we remember correctly, it was the CM in Delhi who tried, despite political and legal hurdles, to get Nirbhaya to Singapore for treatment. The Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, seems to be made of another metal, where she is defending her own person, Sandip Ghosh, ex-head of RG Kar Medical College, in safeguarding his position in this rape and murder case. Reports point out that the victim was a whistle-blower to a larger ongoing corruption and conspiracy at the hospital or the entire WB state healthcare system. It is now abundantly clear that Sandip Ghosh, who is being safeguarded by Mamata Banerjee, must have a lot to say other than what has been compromised at the crime scene.

Sandip Ghosh has not yet been arrested and is only being questioned by the CBI. State police in Calcutta have presented facts that do not align with the timeline on many fronts. One should imagine the clout behind this one person, who can afford to present 31 top lawyers of the country in the High Court and Supreme Court to contest his position in this matter, with the state footing the bill. It seems here that even the courts have lost out on this battle to Mamata Banerjee since this person is yet to go behind bars. Other than this, it has become a slugfest between the BJP and the TMC for settling scores from many elections.

The dismal fact remains that a young lady doctor has been treated this way by the state and the judicial system, displaying that everyone’s hands are tied if the political leaders decide to do what they want to do. Surely in the days to come, there will be no further arrests except for one person who seems to be behind bars, possibly a scapegoat. The whistle-blowers have now been cautioned in Bengal, and so has the country, to let the political leadership do what they wish to do.

From this position, it seems that Mamata Banerjee rides on a weak position inside her state and that it is only the backdoor twisting of arms that has gotten her into a position of political leadership. Like in the old days of one person’s upmanship, she will not leave much to the TMC, akin to Mayawati in UP, once she is out of power. From the state to the centre, it is now a settled case in Indian politics that the political leader has to align with the state machinery in order to keep itself in power (and the others out of it). BJP has done that at the central level for the last two terms and maybe more, with the state leadership following suit to keep their positions intact.

CA Divesh Nath

Editor
Woman’s Era
LinkedIn: Divesh Nath