VIJAY KUMAR IS AN APT AMBASSADOR FOR THE ARMY’S ‘MISSION OLYMPICS’
In a country which is bereft of a sports culture and
having won an individual Gold medal in the Olympics after 112 years, since the
advent of the modern Games; the current showing of Subedar Vijay Kumar in
London by winning the Silver medal in 25 meters Rapid Fire Pistol, is not a
mean achievement by any stretch of imagination. It is exceptional, to say the
least. The young army junior commissioned officer, who has inched his way to
the elusive Olympic medal, after his achievements in the Asian and Commonwealth
Games, is indeed praiseworthy. Notwithstanding the fact that in a country of
over 1.4 billion people, it takes a single or instead a few medals to make the
nation go ballistic and create a frenzy of celebrations; speaks about the near
drought which our sportspersons have earlier faced in the Olympics, before
Chilly Rathore happened in Double Trap in Athens. He brought home the
individual Silver medal to a joyous nation, which got something other than
cricket to celebrate and cheer about. He instilled the belief in the
sportspersons of the country that, winning an individual medal in the Olympics was
very much possible, provided they were focussed and committed to it. That was
indeed a watershed moment in the history of Indian sports and Beijing followed.
London was bound to happen, because the belief of those who were on the
threshold of achieving Olympics glory,
was too inspiring and motivating to be otherwise. They achieved what their
heart and mind believed .
The Indian army has always been in the forefront of
national sports, since long. This primarily because of the intrinsic nature of
pedagogy in the armed forces, wherein, physical fitness sustains all other
training. Recreational sports are a consequence of this state and the armed
forces culture; and competitive sports become a natural fallout of this
condition. Soon the desire to excel and perform at an elite level becomes a
passion for achieving individual and organizational glory. When
the Sports Ministry and the sports administrators were unable to deliver on the
aspirations of the sportspersons and the people; the army, like always in many
other spheres of governance and administration came forward to provide an
alternative to the existing system in the country, and launched an ambitious
undertaking to win in the Olympics. The programme was aptly called ‘Mission
Olympics’. With the army’s vision and mission statement to excel at
international level of sports and win in the Olympics, respectively, no effort
was left wanting to make it happen. It was just a matter of where and when?
Athens - 2004 and London - 2012. Colonel Chilly Rathore and Subedar Vijay Kumar.
Subedar Vijay Kumar
is a product of the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh. The
unit came up as part of ‘Mission Olympics’, to include infrastructure,
equipment, weapons, ammunition, diet, training facilities, foreign coaches,
competition exposure abroad and monetary incentives for winning performances.
The army diverted funds from its own budget for capital and revenue expenses,
to establish five such institutes of sports excellence in the country viz Army
Sports institute, Pune for athletics, archery, boxing, weight lifting,
wrestling and fencing: Army Rowing Node, Khadki, Army Yachting Node, Mumbai and
Army Equestrian Node, Meerut. These institutes of sports excellence are just
waiting to break into the Olympics arena and corner sporting glory in the
forthcoming Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016. That Vijay has won at the London Games
and fructified the army’s vision, which it had spelled out ten years back, is a
great step forward for the future of sports in the country. Therefore, in this
moment of Vijay’s individual glory, the army must come out of its rigidity and
orthodoxy to grant him what the Sports Minister has urged the Ministry of
Defence to consider and grant him, as a third out of turn promotion; in keeping
with the policy which is in vogue for the civilian sportspersons employed with
various government departments. A third out of turn promotion for him could
either be to the rank of a Subedar Major, as he has already earned two out of
turn promotions earlier and is a Subedar, or else to become a commissioned
officer.
Vijay has brought sporting glory for the country and the
army and made every Indian proud by his achievement. Therefore, it is only
befitting of a grateful nation to recognize his contribution and seriously
consider the options, which are available with the army to acknowledge his talent,
industry, dedication and commitment- all sterling qualities which makes every
soldier into a hero. He is, in the circumstances as they remain in our country
an icon for the rural youth, which will be inspired by his upward social
mobility in a class ridden and conscious society. The army cannot afford to think
otherwise, should it want the catchment area of sports, which essentially hails
from the rural and village background to become a part of its ‘Mission Olympics’.
If the cricketing ‘God’ of India, Sachin, the legendary Kapil Dev and the
charismatic Mahi Dhoni, can be made honorary officers in the Air force and the Army respectively,
then the case of Vijay must be a given. He is its own, unlike the other three
achievers, who wear their ranks more as ambassadors for the two services than
being a part of its rank and file. When Chilly Rathore won his Silver at
Athens, the Army was saved the quandary of taking a decision in the matter of
his out of turn promotion, since he is an officer and hence the next best which
was decided for him was to decorate him with an Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, over
and above the monetary incentives. I am quite certain that in these times of
despondency with the senior leadership of the Army, owing to the frequent and
periodic cases of corruption, Vijay will be a far better choice as an officer
than all those who have brought the organization to disgrace and disrepute.
Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal
+919410900051
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