Why NO wrestling in 2020 Olympics ?

Wrestling, an Olympic sport since the first Games in ancient Greece, looks set to be dropped after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to remove it from the programme for 2020. The IOC executive board decided to retain modern pentathlon the event considered most at risk and remove wrestling instead from its list of 25 core sports. Women’s wrestling was added to the Olympics at the 2004 Athens Games. The sport which featured 344 athletes’ competing in 11 medal events in free style and seven in Greco-Roman at last year’s London Olympics will now join seven other sports in applying for inclusion in 2020. The others are a combined bid from base-ball and soft-ball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wake boarding and wushu. They will be vying for a single opening in 2020.

Though this decision is not final and another round of discussions and voting will be done in September this year let us look at the in-depth analysis of why wrestling have become doubtful according to veteran observers of the Games. The IOC program commission report analyzed more than three dozen criteria, including television ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity. Olympic-style wrestling, with its amateur roots and absence of visibility except during the Games, does not have superstars with widespread international acclaim like Lionel Messi in soccer, Kobe Bryant in basketball, Tiger Woods in golf and Usain Bolt in track. And in the United States, the popularity of Olympic-style wrestling is surpassed by the staged bombast of professional wrestling. With no official rankings or recommendations contained in the report, the final decision by the 15-member board was also subject to political, emotional and sentimental factors.

In recent years, the I.O.C. has expressed concern about the growing size of the Summer Games and has wanted to cap the number of athletes at about 10,500. It has also said that it wants to attract younger viewers to the international television audience. On Tuesday, the committee said in a statement that it wanted to ensure that it remained “relevant to sports fans of all generations.” The I.O.C. may have also grown frustrated that Greco-Roman wrestling did not include women, experts said. Women began participating in freestyle wrestling at the 2004 Athens Games. 

Many argue that politics, too, play an inevitable role in the workings of the I.O.C. Among the sports surviving the voting was modern pentathlon which was also threatened, and less popular internationally than wrestling. But modern pentathlon was invented by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Games. And it is supported by Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., son of a former I.O.C. president and a member of its executive board. 

Sources say that it was a very close vote between wrestling and modern pentathlon may be one or two votes separating them.  In its race with the modern pentathlon which combines fencing, horse-riding, swimming, running and shooting the five skills required of a 19^th century cavalry officer. The sport’s governing body has been lobbying hard to protect its Olympic status and the efforts apparently paid off and told that it was a process of renewing and renovating the program for the Olympics.

Crime and Politics

The present scenario shows that the crime and politics are like two sides of a coin. When we take out the history of a politician it is shocking to observe that more than one-third of MLA's and MP's have at least one charge sheet for  criminal charges including murder, rape, kidnapping and extortion in the police station.  According to an article in Washingtonpost the percentage of candidates facing criminal charges has risen from 28 percent to 35 percent since state elections were last held in 2007, despite a nationwide campaign against corruption last year. At least 30 candidates are incarcerated.

Criminals and strongmen have long been a feature of Indian politics. Their ill-gotten wealth provides easy campaign cash, and they often control constituencies with strong caste or religious loyalties. Indian police are kept under tight political control, and are prevented from taking on politically-connected gangsters.Indian cops have been known to file false cases against opponents of the ruling dispensation. The courts move slowly against those who are charged.

Now the actual question comes..why are people with criminal backgrounds  attracted to politics ? Are they overcome by the desire to serve people ? No absolutely not, they enter the legislature because their status as lawmakers will shield them from the law and help them multiply their wealth.Today we see people joining politics of India to make sure the criminal cases against them get dropped or not proceeded with.

The sole solution of it is in the general elections let us demand that no party should give a ticket to those facing criminal charges. We need popular agitations to prevent criminalisation of politics. A change in Indian judicial rule is needed, cases against corrupt Indian politicians should be heard before all other cases, and like in normal case should be treated separately, followed by a quick and prompt verdict. This move can help in many ways, as it will induce many corrupt ones to resign. It will definitely take some years to bring a difference in the system as many fields are inter-linked. But somewhere this process should be initialized.

India calling for Flag meeting at LOC - a good and strong move

The main headline in the recent issues of newspapers is the death of Indian soldiers at LOC. It is a high time in the border area as the bilateral relations among India and Pakistan are being strained in the due course of 4-5 years. While talking tough, India suggesting a flag meeting at the LOC with Pak to sort out the issues is a good move. Killing of soldiers and mutilating their bodies is barbaric.

A point that must be discussed is that the recent skirmishes between the armies of India and Pakistan have evolved a lot of emotional responses. At the time when war between two countries is real, New Delhi has displayed maturity by suggesting a flag meeting. Any full-fledged confrontation will cause incalculable damage to both the neighbours heavily and will bring immense pressure on the countries already struggling with insurgency and adverse economic growth.

No doubt, efforts at peace are important but to display calibrated aggressiveness on the premediated attacks by Pak is the need of the hour. Already India released proof regarding the killing to the Pak army. It released pictures of landmines allegedly planted on the Indian side of the LOC by the Pak troops.

To protect our nation's self-respect and to safeguard its people an immediate reaction is required. Peace efforts with the hostile neighbour will be meaningful only if it is made to understand that the reaction from India will be swift and more punitive.