for a country like India where majority of population is young, we cannot leave sports away from nation building . I agree there is corruption , poor planning and execution for these games but we have to also keep in mind India has never hosted a world class event . Asian games was held during an era which is completely different then present day India. We need to learn from this experience and aim even higer ---- Absolutely why not OLYMPICS now ..... Commonwealth Games 2010 is expected to result in an overall economic impact of USD 4,940 million on India's GDP during a period of four years ending 2012 and create an employment opportunity close to 24.7 lakh. read- http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cwg-impact/691826/
> Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2010 16:34:24 +0530 > From: dasm...@gmail.com > To: assam@assamnet.org > Subject: Re: [Assam] India should have stopped participating in CWG > > CWG is a huge success! India should bid for 2020 Olympics. > > We need to change some old hogs, thats all. > > I don't agree with Mr AC. He should first stop looting the unsuspecting > kids. > > -mkd > > On Mon, Oct 4, 2010 at 4:18 PM, Nava Thakuria <navathaku...@yahoo.com>wrote: > > > > > India should have stopped participating in CWG > > > > Arindam Chaudhuri, Editor-in-chief, The Sunday Indian > > > > I really had decided to not write about the Commonwealth Games at all – the > > reason is clear in the heading and I will elaborate soon enough! However, > > receiving too many mails and requests asking me write on the games, finally > > made > > me change my mind! But I do not plan to write about all the corruption > > related > > allegations, as too much has been said by senior journalists in the most > > hard > > hitting manner already. Also, for everything in India, we have a scam. How > > could > > one ever expect that the government will plan such a huge project without > > making > > money? I will end my reference to the scam by sighting one of the many sms > > messages on CWG that I received a couple of days back. It stated, “What a > > lovely > > anagram (word play)... Unscramble ‘Sir, u made lakhs,’ and you get ‘Suresh > > Kalmadi’... !!!” > > > > Leaving the scam behind on that note, let me tell you why I detest the very > > idea > > of the Commonwealth Games. Of course, I agree with Manishankar Iyer > > wholeheartedly when he says that instead of spending so much money on the > > games > > we should have developed sports people in India and made investments to > > create > > an environment conducive to world class sports in India. And I swear the > > money > > spent would have sufficed to develop world class sports facilities not just > > throughout India, but the perhaps the whole of the third world! I have too > > many > > times referred to the Chinese example of not participating in Olympics (and > > wasting money) till they became competent enough to play the games so well > > that > > they would do justice to the size of their nation. In the history of > > Olympics, > > we are the nation with the least amount of medals per capita. But that > > doesn’t > > shame our ministers ever or tempt them to do anything – the lure of > > corruption > > possibly always does! > > > > > > Going away from Manishanker Iyer’s very strong and correct logic, let me > > let the > > common Indian and Delhiite know what CWG is about! Well, Commonwealth Games > > were > > not called Commonwealth Games till 1978. The games first started as the > > British > > Empire Games in 1930! That’s the origin of the CWG that India is so > > meaninglessly getting excited about. In 1954, the games started being > > called the > > British Empire and Commonwealth Games; and then the British Commonwealth > > Games > > in 1970! Why? Well, because it was a sporting activity to celebrate the > > British > > empire. And it brought together all the nations that Great Britain ruled, > > to > > play and feel like equals for a couple of weeks! It was officially > > suggested as > > a means to increase the goodwill and understanding of the British empire... > > and > > the first games actually took place in 1911 as the “Festival of the > > Empire”. > > > > > > The big event before the games is called the Queen’s baton relay and is > > supposed > > to be like the Olympic torch relay! Why is it called the Queen’s baton > > relay? > > Well, what else do you call the relay around the world to begin the start > > of a > > game to celebrate the British empire? The baton carries the message from > > the > > head of Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II. Till 1994, the relay but > > obviously > > went only through England to remind the English about their past colonial > > powers! Now, of course, it goes through twenty plus countries where > > celebrities > > fight with each other to run with the baton to carry the message of the > > British > > empire... oops, the Commonwealth of nations! It’s unbelievable but true > > that > > only two erstwhile colonies of the British empire – Burma and Aden decided > > not > > to become members of the Commonwealth of nations post independence. Rest, > > all > > the 54 countries, barring two, are part of the old British empire! > > > > One might wonder how did the name change to Commonwealth Games in 1978? > > Well, by > > 1978, the world had grown mature enough to be critical of colonialism and > > apartheid. And with changing times, it was only intelligent to change the > > name > > of the games to keep the old colonial games alive. Thus the new name! But > > it > > still remains a game of erstwhile colonies! The only two states who were > > not > > British colonies, yet who have been granted membership of the Commonwealth > > of > > nations (under the new effort to change the colonial flavour of the > > Commonwealth > > of nations) are Mozambique – a former Portuguese colony – and Rwanda, a > > former > > German colony; and their admission was considered as exceptional. But > > perhaps > > the biggest insult of being a member of the Commonwealth of nations is that > > originally, when the games started, it required acceptance of dominionhood > > a > > compulsory requirement; this was later modified in 1949 to dictate that > > members > > could only be made on condition that the member countries recognised the > > British > > monarch – that is, is the current Queen – as the Head of the Commonwealth! > > Of > > course, now there are so called greater values that the Commonwealth stands > > for, > > like, you guessed it right, world peace, racial equality, human rights > > etc!! > > > > After reading all this, if you still want to be a part of the celebrations > > around these slavish games, then please go ahead. In my opinion, we have > > the > > United Nations, we have the non aligned nations. We don’t need > > commonwealth. > > Forget about celebrating the Commonwealth games; it’s time India considers > > withdrawing its membership from the slavish Commonwealth of nations itself. > > It’s > > a shame that instead of doing that, we are busy celebrating these games > > which > > are nothing but a celebration of the British empire – in other words, > > celebration of racial discrimination, colonialism, imperialism – however > > much > > the statutes may have changed in recent times. > > > > > > http://thesundayindian.com/26092010/storyd.asp?sid=9562&pageno=1 > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > assam mailing list > > assam@assamnet.org > > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > > > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > assam@assamnet.org > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org _______________________________________________ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
