"...do not watch these Games. Do not go to the venues. Do not watch them on TV. You cannot become a cheerleader to an exercise in cheating. The Indian people have been exploited enough, but to expect us to smile through it is a bit much...."
-Chetan Bhagat, on commonwealth games, in an article in TOI.
Author and writer Chetan Bhagat in his article has urged the nation not to support the 2010 Commonwealth Games, which he has described as "by far, the biggest and most blatant, exercise in corruption in independent India's history.
We Indians take pride in the fact that our GDP Growth rate is SECOND fastest in the world, but we ignore the fact that we are number ONE in terms of people living below poverty line!
If we try to understand, then Bhagat's point of view is very much correct. Supporting Commonwealth means supporting the corruption. But on the contrary, not supporting the commonwealth means not supporting our nation. So, we have two options- either to support our nation and give protection to corrupt leaders or to stand against the corruption and destroy our nation's image. (Its sad, but the matter of fact is, that India and corruption comes in a package, which we can't separate.)
See, its not the question whether games will happen or not. They will take place without any hiccups. Neither its about corruption. CWG is not the first corruption scam in our country, we have seen many. But its about the eyes of the world that would be glued on us.
Think about a protest rally happening during the games at India Gate. The world media would be reporting it. From Britain to Australia, people would get to know how corrupted games are. Can you even imagine how much pressure would it put on the government! They would be left with no option but to clean their sleeves and take actions against the corrupted officials. I know this may paint the image of India as a corrupted nation. But tell me honestly what's more important- our image or what we actually are?
See, if you expect that for the time being we can support the games to protect our image and then after games necessary actions can be taken against corrupted officials, then that's not possible. Infact, Kalmadi & Co would become national heroes for saving India from shame. If we want to take stand against corruption, it has to be NOW!
Hey, wait there is this other side of the coin. One of my friend told me this. In a training session for CWG volunteers, there was this 85 years old retired army officer. When asked what inspired him to be a CWG volunteer at this age? His answer was- ' I have served the country on borders for 50years and today also, I want to serve my county. ' That's patriotism- the UNCONDITIONAL LOVE for the nation!
Not all of us are corrupted. There are such people who would do anything for our nation. We can't paint the nation, which actually belongs to such patriots, as corrupted!
It's a very hard choice. On one had is the image of our nation, on other is the opportunity to do a bit to save our nation.
What do YOU choose? It's your choice, make it count.
