The startling difference in the medals tally between the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and India (100:3) in the recently concluded Beijing Olympics 2008, has dangerous political implications for the survival of democracy in the Indian subcontinent. Communist and other totalitarian governments have traditionally invested huge resources in the training and preparation of sportspersons and athletes on the premise that measurable achievements in sports arenas speak volumes about the superiority of their governance ideologies. In this particular Olympiad the communist regime, which rules PRC with an iron hand hidden in a customised velvet glove, has scored a double whammy by showcasing excellent organisational capability in staging the 29th Olympiad extravaganza, and simultaneously bagging the largest gold medals tally of the games.
People in developing countries are only too aware that until two decades ago, China was a third world country suffering massive food, clothing, housing, education and healthcare deprivations. Live telecasts of the Olympics from communist China made it painfully apparent that the overwhelming majority of the country’s citizens are well-fed, clad and shod, in sharp contrast to the stick-thin, half-naked and barefoot rural petitioners ubiquitous on Indian news channels.
The propaganda impact of the ‘international demonstration effect’ upon chronically deprived and ill-educated people in third world countries should not be under-estimated. Indeed a connection must be made between the emergence of communist China as an economic superpower since the turn of the century, the establishment of a self-confessedly Maoist government in Nepal, and spread of the Naxalite movement in India, described by prime minister Manmohan Singh as the biggest threat to the unity and stability of this country.
With the fast-track Chinese economy and its evidently successful socio-economic development model validated by PRC’s emergence on the world stage as a major sports and athletics nation, India which purports to offer an ideologically alternative development model, urgently needs to demonstrate its capability in sports. One can hardly fault those who cite India’s pathetic record in international sports and games, as evidence of substandard education. Because increasingly around the world, sports and athletics development is being regarded as intrinsic to education.
Yet India’s poor showing at the Beijing Olympics 2008 doesn’t mean that it needs to imitate the state-driven sports model devised by PRC’s brutal authoritarian regime. On the contrary in keeping with its democratic culture and traditions, India’s sports development model should follow the US example.
A beginning was made last year with the Union government clearing the decks for promotion of the Indian Premier (Cricket) League which has attracted unprecedented amounts of money into the game. The flowering of advanced training facilities and talent has followed. Greater freedom for NGOs rather than promotion of state academies and regimentation, is the panacea to the prolonged sports medals drought that democratic India has been experiencing.