Vinesh, Hasina & some burning questions…

   By Vijay Darda | 12-08-2024

Wrestler Vinesh Phogat fell victim to politics, and politics of conspiracy ousted Sheikh Hasina

Last week, two figures who garnered global attention were Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat and Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina! Although there is no direct connection between the two, they have both become subjects of my column because their events are intertwined with politics. One involves the politics in sports, while the other revolves around the politics of conspiracy. Both cases involve the egos of certain individuals too.

Let’s first discuss the issue of the daughter of our country who has been victimised by politics in sports. The story of her struggle against political arrogance and exploitation is well-known and doesn’t need to be repeated. However, for those who were hurt by Vinesh’s struggle, their own ego, their own politics and the opportunity to teach her a lesson became more important than the pride of the country and the national flag. Vinesh primarily competes in the 53 kg weight category. She should have been sent to the Olympics in this category, but instead, another wrestler named Antim Panghal was sent. She was eliminated in the first round itself and subsequently embarrassed India by facilitating her sister’s entry into the sports stadium on her accreditation card. Vinesh had no option but to compete in the 50 kg category. However, Vinesh showed that she was not one to give up. When Vinesh reached the final, her silver medal was secured and the entire country had its hopes pinned on gold. But the news about Vinesh’s disqualification for being overweight by 100 grams shattered the gold dreams of 1.4 billion Indians and broke her heart. Millions of sports fans were devastated. I am compelled to say that politics has enslaved Indian sports. This is the major reason for the dismal state of sports, otherwise our youths are more than capable of winning gold medals in the Olympics like the US or China. Just look at the medals tally and the population of those countries. If you exclude China, the total population of the top 30 countries does not match ours. If we can be leaders in science, technology and management, why not sports? But politics has pervaded sports here. What can we do?

Politics is indeed a strange thing. It seeks to dominate everything. Feudalism is inherent in its nature. If it weren’t, would Sheikh Hasina have faced such a fate in Bangladesh? When Hasina took office 15 years back, Bangladesh was in ruins, but she elevated her country to new heights. The World Bank called this development and progress an inspiring story. Bangladesh could become a upper middle income country by 2031. The Asian Development Bank stated that Bangladesh could exit the least developed countries’ group by 2026. Along with economic progress, she had also adopted the strongest and most genuine zero-tolerance policy against terrorism. When there was such economic growth, what made people so disillusioned with Sheikh Hasina that she had to flee the country? Certainly, recent times have seen rising inflation in Bangladesh. People were angry. An agitation against reservation was going on but none of these factors were strong enough to topple Hasina government. In fact, international powers were extremely displeased with Hasina’s strong ties with India. China’s displeasure was particularly evident. China wanted Hasina to give it a playing field in Bangladesh. Other superpowers were also unhappy with Bangladesh’s relationship with India. However, Hasina was not listening to any of them. For her, the country was more important, so she adopted a tough stance.

Meanwhile, in the name of the students’ movement, the students wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, that had been waiting for years to overthrow Hasina, took to the streets. Let me remind you that Jamaat-e-Islami is a pro-Pakistan organisation that vehemently opposed the birth of Bangladesh in 1971. Can you imagine a Bangladeshi patriot student trying to break the statue of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation? It is now clear that those who knocked down the statue were members of Jamaat-e-Islami. This group has also attacked minorities in Bangladesh and looted their homes.

Had India not taken timely steps, the coup masterminds would have killed Sheikh Hasina. After all, her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated by extremists. Fortunately, Hasina managed to come to India, which saved her life, sending a message to the world that it stands with Bangladesh in this time of crisis. We know that eventually, we too get affected by the fire in the neighbouring country. Therefore, bringing Bangladesh back on the path of peace and protecting it from extremists is our collective responsibility.

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