Indians For Guns

Indian Athletes Don't Need New Delhi
By AMIT VARMA
FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ASIA
August 15, 2008


It was a gunshot heard across a subcontinent. On Monday, Abhinav Bindra, a 25-year-old shooter from India, took aim for his final shot in the 10-meter air rifle event at the Olympic Games. The pressure was intense, but Mr. Bindra shot an almost-perfect 10.8 to win the gold medal. His fans and supporters jumped up in delight in the stands, as wild celebrations began across the country. India's 24-hour news channels became 24-hour Bindra channels, and there was much talk of national pride.

Mr. Bindra's achievement warrants such celebration. On a national level, this was, astonishingly, the first gold medal India has won in an individual sport in any Olympics. And on the more important personal level, it was a testament to the years of single-minded hard work Mr. Bindra dedicated to his sport.

It was also a testament to individual gumption, as opposed to government support. Mr. Bindra's family, and not the sports ministry or even the national shooting association, enabled his success. Mr. Bindra has been lucky that his father is an industrialist who has dipped into his personal wealth to support his son. He built a shooting range for his son in his farmhouse in Punjab, and made sure he never ran out of ammunition, which is not made in India and has to be imported.

This hasn't stopped the state from trying to take credit for his achievement. India's sports minister, Manohar Singh Gill, went on television Monday and said, "I congratulate myself and every other Indian."

But everyone knows the truth: The Indian government does a pathetic job of administering sports. Rent-seeking bureaucrats run the various sporting federations -- or ruin them, as some would say. (Although the shooting association is among the better-run ones.) A great illustration of this is field hockey, a sport once dominated by India, but in which India failed to qualify for Beijing. Even though there is no Indian hockey team at these Olympics, four hockey coaches have secured a junket to Beijing simply to observe the other teams in action. You can't make this up.

Some nationalists might compare this state of affairs to a place like China -- where athletes are fed into a vast, state-funded sporting machine tasked with churning out national champions -- and argue that India needs to spend more government money on sports. Such arguments are wrong. The oddity is that China, a developing country like India, expends so many of its scarce resources on sport, not that India expends so little.

Any money that the government spends on sport could be better spent on building infrastructure: roads, ports or power-generation units, for a start. It would also do a lot of good simply left in the hand of the taxpayers, who would then spend it according to their own individual priorities. Hundreds of millions of Indians are forced to part with their hard-earned money through direct or indirect taxes. It is perverse to spend that money on something as nebulous as national sporting pride. Surely governments, especially the democratically elected variety, have a moral responsibility to spend taxpayers' money more responsibly.

Also, as Mr. Bindra's inspiring story shows, the lack of government support isn't killing India's private-sector Olympic spirit. India is increasingly producing its own ranks of self-made sporting greats -- such as Viswanathan Anand, the world chess champion. India has seen its greatest international sporting successes in cricket, a sport that's not administered by the government.

So I don't mind if our government spends less money on sport, or even none. Where will our Olympic medals come from then, you ask? Well, lift enough people to prosperity, and the sporting laurels will roll in. Ask Abhinav Bindra.

Mr. Varma, the 2007 winner of the Bastiat Prize for Journalism, writes the blog India Uncut


AFP/Getty Images
Undistracted: Abhinav Bindra medals without government meddling.

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This article (courtesy Mehul) from WAJ says it all

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Came across the following blog entry today:

IOA announces withdrawal of India's IOC membership after Abhinav Bindra wins gold at Beijing

In an unprecedented move, Suresh Kalmadi, President of the IOA since 1996, announced that the Indian Olympic Association would be withdrawing from its membership of the International Olympic Committee.

Mr. Kalmadi's announcement came in Beijing, shortly after Abhinav Bindra won India its first ever individual gold medal at the Olympics. Mr. Kalmadi was quoted as saying:

We won a bronze in 1996 through Leander Paes and in 2000 through Karnam Malleswari. In 2004, we won a silver, thanks to Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. Now, we have won gold. The progress is fairly obvious.

I had a frank discussion with the IOC board about instituting Diamond and Platinum medals for higher achievements, but the IOA's request was rebuffed. Having won gold, there're no more challenges. Since there is now nothing more left for India to achieve, we do not see any point in participating in the Olympics henceforth. However, all athletes who have been picked for the current games in Beijing will get to compete. Thanks to Abhinav Bindra, there's so much less pressure on them now to win more medals!

I congratulate the honorary officials of the Indian Olympic Association, our Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs, the MLAs from all the states, the National Rifle Association of India and the various officials of the Olympic contingent in Beijing for this achievement. Since our various sports federations and committees have proved that we can produce Olympic gold medallists, I am pleased to announce that the elections to all federations have been postponed by 25 years.

I think this piece of satire says it all as far as the attitude of Indian officialdom is concerned!

Cheers!
Abhijeet

Unlike citizens in sporting nations, most Indians can only whine or give unsolicited advise, instead of doing something to sort out the situation. That is why things remain the same. How many of us even thought about Monica after Abhinav won his medal? If even half, or even quarter, of this nation had recognized her omission from the Olympics as a more significant event than a gold medal won, this nation would have been called a 'sporting nation'. Medals follow as a byproduct of making a ‘sporting nation’. Abhinav or someone else might have won a medal in the next or the next Olympics, but it is fair to assume Monica is not going for any more Olympics. If you or your children are related to competitive sports as past or present players, imagine yourself in her place! I’ve experienced this situation personally, and it IS traumatic. Post the euphoria, come to think of it, one odd medal by itself means nothing, absolutely nothing for a nation with 1/5th the world's population keeping in mind the existing potential. I say this vociferously because I know that nobody in India can make an iota of a claim to have contributed to that medal. Abhinav’s Indian coach Col. Dhillon is not really a part of the ‘sports system’- he simply does his coaching with dedication (I know since he was my colleague at Yadavindra Public School, Chandigarh), and the other significant person- Mr. Harold Carver, Principal of St. Stephen’s School who left no stone unturned in encouraging Abhinav, which is same for any other student of his school, is part of the education system, not the sports system, and even then has contributed to both. I’ve been closely associated with his school’s sports for over a year, so I know.

Abhinav simply happens to have been born in India, fortunately for India! How fortunate is that for any other sportsperson in this country?

I can make these sweeping, generalized statements because I happen to be one of those who can take a stand and fight the system. I am India's highest qualified squash coach and have produced some of the best squash players this country has ever seen- one of them is currently ranked no-3 in European Squash Federation, and he with another ex-trainee of mine are no-2 and no-1 players for the Indian junior team that stood 4th in the World Junior championship this month at Zurich. Yet, I have been sidelined by the squash federation and the buffoon who runs it (incidentally rewarded by being appointed a consultant for new hockey setup!). I've stood my ground and filed a PIL in Delhi High Court for preventing atrocities on our squash players (harassment of our best players- Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal have been reported in the press elaborately).

It so happens that a potential turning point has now come through a shooter. I happen to be in this forum (IFG) where this precise article has appeared. I also am a good shot and have been interested in shooting since 30 years (I'm 36, and started at 5-6 years of age), hence am on this forum. It is also noteworthy that this forum clearly has some members who can think straight and can at least speak about issues.

If some members can get together, perhaps we can start a movement towards sorting out Indian sports, instead of just complaining about it. Lets have an expression of interest first, and then consider possibilities. I have a plan by the way, but it will take fine tuning, conviction, networking, money, lawyers, media involvement, influence and all relevant resources to pull through. Anyone joining?

i remember a few years ago when i was in SAI STC plan,

we would get 60 pellets a week, and 500 rs per month.