THERE HAS BEEN no protest like this in Indian sport. Even when the wrestlers first came out at Jantar Mantar, it was unprecedented. I think at the time they believed that their demands would be met because they had appealed directly to the prime minister; he had hailed them as champions, he spoke so often of Beti Bachao. They thought their appeal would work, but it didn’t.
Brijbhushan Singh, from what I have been told by people who know him, is immensely powerful in the region that he operates in. He has the loyalties of 12 Lok Sabha MPs and 36 MLAs, or so he claims. Also, he seems to be a counter to [Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister] Yogi Adityanath. Perhaps, that is the reason he is being shielded. The other reason is that now it has become a question of ego. The government seems to be thinking, “How dare these women not just go away?” Moreover, we are seeing a certain dispensability of athletes—if political power cannot use them for its ends, they serve no purpose to them. They can be treated like the wrestlers are being treated today.
It is disingenuous to say that there are political forces at play, as if Brijbhushan is a lamb. He is a political person; there will be a political game. The whole point of ‘there is politics at play’ is to take away from what is the central accusation about Brijbhushan’s behaviour against his athletes. Everything else is just news channel talk to fill airtime.
The government is not in the clear because the Delhi Police are sitting on their hands. When you had this oversight committee, did you call Brijbhushan Singh in for questioning? The sports ministry, the Indian Olympic Association and the Wrestling Federation of India are all controlled by people from the same party. And everyone is trying to protect one guy.
Denne historien er fra June 11, 2023-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
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Denne historien er fra June 11, 2023-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
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William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus
RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI