Alas, being a sports person in this country is really, really an upbeat task! Except if you have loads of cash and the family wants to be the next ‘˜Virat Kohli’ or ‘˜MS Dhoni’ of this country.
Alas, being a sports person in this country is really, really an upbeat task!
Except if you have loads of cash and the family wants to be the next ‘Virat Kohli’ or ‘MS Dhoni’ of this country.
But what about of the rest who want to be the next ‘Dhanraj Pillay’ or ‘PT Usha’ of this country?
Can’t they be one?
No, they can’t because our sports ministries and the government are just “too busy” socialising on the media or doing a field trip around the world.
And that’s what has caused the death of a 20-year old hockey player from Sangrur in Punjab.
Rajwinder Kaur ended her life by coming under a train after failing to pay the fees for the second year of her BA (Bachelor of Arts) course.
Rajwinder was a participant at the Junior National Hockey Championships from Punjab and had also taken part in the state championships as many as four times. Her father Surinder Singh said in a quote to a news channel saying, “She wanted to get admission in BA second year, but the economic condition of the family was very bad and we could not arrange admission fee for her. She got upset, following which she took the extreme step.”
Her family said that Rajwinder was missing since August 5. It was the next day that they got to know of the incident, when her body was discovered at a local railway track. Her father put on a brave face upon hearing the sad news and criticised the government.
He said, “Rajvinder was a very talented girl, she was also good in studies and wanted to become a police officer. She started playing hockey in her childhood. At the age of 10, she won her first medal in a school tournament. I think, my poverty and the government’s negligence were equally responsible for her death.”
So what was our Indian Sports Minister thinking at that time?
Well, here’s what Sarbananda Sonowal had to say in taking Indian sports ahead. “We also welcome suggestions and criticism from everyone. We are here to serve Indian sports. We have a common goal and any tussle within the family can’t be healthy. We seek collective support for the benefit of our sportspersons,” the Sports Minister was speaking in an interaction with the journalists.
Furthermore he adds, “There is no place for corruption and emphasis should largely be on good governance. Sportsmen need encouragement and I would stress on transparency in selection. All National Sports Federations and the IOA (Indian Olympic Association) have been sounded out in this regard.”
Thank you Mr. Sports Minster for those ‘generous words’ but the flowery language looks good on paper and magazines but in real life, they seem to part of blasphemy.
Just look at your Sports Ministry!
What have they done till now?
Mr. Narendra Modi had envisaged a bright future for this country before coming into power but one cannot see any light ahead! Besides the cricket phenomena, sports like hockey, tennis and now even kabbaddi has pulled up the strings. Unless and until, the words are not put into ACTION, there can be no forgiving for such types of misogynist government at hand!
If today, this nation saw a Rajwinder Kaur depart to the heavens, may be there’s one more waiting in the wings! ACT, GOVERNMENT, ACT!
“There’s a bright spot in every dark cloud” quotes Bruce Beresford.
