'Sport'y Politics and 'Policy' Sport

Sporting events - none bigger and grander than than Olympics - have had selfish overtures since time immemorial.

Nazism to Berlin Olympics, Apartheid to South African sport, BCCI's high-handedness to International cricket all stand testimony. More often than not, 'politics' has transcended to become the national aggregate of 'selfishness'. The case in point: Beijing Olympics 2008.

Lot has been said by the Who's Who of International realpolitik on Tibet's right to autonomy in line with the current string of protests by Tibetans worldwide. Definitely a knee-jerk reaction.

Tibet has borne the brunt of Chinese oppression over the last 60 years - the same time frame that has witnessed China rise like a phoenix to not just being the sourcing hub of the world but also the only challenge to American economic and military supremacy.

Interestingly, never in the past few decades has the world woken up to issue Human Rights violation in Tibet as now. What a paradox! Are 'we' not squarely responsible for letting the Chinese climb up to these distinctions unchecked, all along? Have all the so-called world leaders gone into a slumber to wake up only now?

Surprisingly enough, India - the hope and home to thousands of Tibetan refugees including the Dalai Lama himself - shocks the fundamentals of its very own cherished founding as a non-aligned sovereign, socialist, secular democratic republic.

Never more in the past has Indian policy been as weak. True, the issues in Jammu Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh might not find Chinese favor should India speak. Perhaps, Indo-China economic integration might also suffer.

Do these reasons sufficiently explain our hypocrisy towards our slogan of 'Satyameva Jayate' (Truth alone Wins)? Do the Gandhian thought, Nehruvian policy hold any relevance in this context? Have we digressed from being principles, policy and strategy driven to just being as opportunistic as the Americans?

If truth is that Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh are Indian territory, so they shall be for 'Truth alone wins'. Are we not distancing ourselves from the truth of the 'Tibetan respect' - a fundamental human value?

No doubt, the digression from Nehruvian Socialism has brought us a few rewards- economic empowerment. But is it all? Questions remain.

Is instant gratification reason enough for us to dis-associate ourselves from truth and human values? To recall, how else can one explain jeopardizing the Iran pipeline for benefit from America?

Definitely, being a realist is different from being a strategist. Much higher than the both is being a Statesman.

Are we losing our stature from those days of the NAM? As a new generation Indian I am afraid that Pokhran-II could have just been the last statement of free Indian policy.

Indian Cricket - Jumbled Paradox

A 'Paradox' itself refers to something confusing. 'Jumbled Paradox' - perhaps my contribution to English etymology - confuses beyond imagination. For, how else could one explain the signals the recent selection decisions by the BCCI send across to the cricket crazy nation ?

First, Rahul Dravid continues to sit out of the ODI team, and his predecessor captain and by far the most gritty cricketer in world cricket in current times, Saurav Ganguly is dropped. The reasons looked scantily logical at best.

Second, the very next day, player categories for IPL - whose genesis itself was more due to revenge/competition than cricketing - were announced that give both the former captains 'icon' status.

• If agility on the field was the reason for omission of Ganguly from the team for tri-series, can rational thought get him a place in the Twenty20 format which is far more demanding in terms of ground fielding.
• Players who have opted out of the Twenty20 world cup in South Africa have all been included in the IPL. Does the IPL reduce to only being a revenue generator ?
  

If this is not hypocrisy, then what else is ?