Respect The Challenge

The Indian Armed Forces pulled off The 4^th Military World Games (MWG) under the auspices of the Counceil  International  De Sports Militaire (CISM) from 14 to 21 Oct 2007 at Hyderabad and Mumbai, with Professional and Clockwork precision. This was the first ever International Multi Sports event hosted by the Indian Military, comprising 13  Sports Disciplines and in which 102 Countries participated. The event earned encomiums from the participating International Military Fraternity, for its Military exactitude and one pointed purposeful conduct. The Organizing Committee for the Games hosted 4500 athletes, officials and delegates who provided meaning to the CISM motto of  ‘Friendship Through Sports’, during the MWG.

The challenge of Planning, Preparation, Organization and Conduct of the MWG was immense and analogous to the Over Hyped Commonwealth Games, Delhi 2010, which has insidiously sabotaged our National Pride and Respect in the comity of Nations. Irreparable damage has been done to Indian self respect and dignity by the scurrilous deeds, unabashed arrogance and condescending attitude of the various constituents of the Organizing Committee CWG Delhi, 2010 under its vainglorious and lumpish Chairman, Suresh Kalmadi. The adage that, Good Leaders Lead and Bad Leaders Mislead is most appropriate to explain and nail the fiasco.

For the Organization of multi sports events, such as the MWG, CWG, Asian and Olympic Games,  it is an indispensable requirement to have the command and control structure unequivocally articulated and delineated. The hierarchy of the Organizing Committee is determined not by position, authority, rank or office but instead by competence, merit and established capability. The stewardship of the Indian Olympic Association alone  should not have been an over riding reason for assigning to Suresh Kalmadi the onerous responsibility of being the Chairman of the CWG , Delhi 2010. With the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs (MOYA&S) and the Government of Delhi being the foremost and major stakeholders in the Organization and Conduct of the CWG, the Chairman IOA did not qualify himself for the JOB. Kalmadi, an MP from Pune,  played to  the galleries of his political constituency under the façade of being a sports aficionado, and Organized the Commonwealth Youth Games 2008 in Pune. Had he an iota of respect for the humongous challenge of CWG , Delhi 2010 the most plausible and logical course of action should have been to use this wonderful opportunity to Test the Preparedness of Delhi for the 03 to 14 Oct 2010, Sports Extravaganza.

Kalmadi’s boasts about getting the CWG to India and Delhi, and these being his ‘Baby’ reeks of  his being an eternal  windbag, who has very conveniently distanced himself from the overall responsibility of Organizing the Games, which includes Infrastructure, Security, Catering, Hospitality, Transportation et al and not just the Technical Conduct of the Games. Notwithstanding the empty bravado shown by him to at last accept partial responsibility for the National Shame, when he shared the dais with Mike Fennel in the last Press Conference, Kalmadi continues to arrogate authority within the National Sports Environment, to the dislike of the majority in the Demographic Dividend of India. And this because there is a disgusting pervasion of politics in Indian Sports and a perpetual atmosphere of sycophancy in the Management and Administration of our National Sports  Federations/Associations.

The cost escalations and over runs, which are absurd by any stretch of imagination are indefensible. The ad nauseam sound bytes of “These will be the best ever CWG” and “The infrastructure is better than Melbourne and Beijing”, thrown at us in the electronic media has caricatured and insulted our intelligence. To draw a parallel with the prime role of the Military, operational success is measured and defined by the bare minimum losses suffered in human lives while achieving tactical and strategic goals. Similarly, in the organization and conduct of mega events when costs have gone up by as much as 300% of the initial planned budget, the achievement is instead an apology for belying the trust reposed in the Organizing Committee.

The Armed Forces, which continue to remain the last bastion of National Pride, did what they did in MWG 2007, only because we abided by the aphorism of “To Overcome A Challenge, We Must Respect it First”. How, we wish our  politicians and bureaucrats, who continue to climb on the credulities of our countrymen, had in the instant case of the CWG, Delhi 2010 learnt from the experiences of the Armed Forces and avoided the huge embarrassment and shame which has visited the  Nation , in our endeavour to showcase the emerging economic power INDIA.

Brigadier(retd) Sarvesh Dutt Dangwal, VSM

Ex Secretary and Chairman Army Sports Control Board and Games Technical Conduct Committee, MWG 2007