Egg on face; KCR Company; Take a bow, Ardern
Opinion Watch
Egg on face
A few weeks ago, a woman sportsperson in Haryana came on camera against Haryana minister and former Indian Hockey team captain Sandeep Singh, charging him for seeking sexual favour and serving harassment when spurned. Now, women wrestlers who brought tears to the nation when they won Olympic medals and wrapped themselves in the national flag sit at Jantar Mantar, pleading protection from predators in the wrestling federation, headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. This must be a national shame.
The Economic Times in an Editorial has warned that the accusations of the women wrestlers not be taken lightly, for the information obtained through the Right to Information Act (RTI) revealed that there had been 28 cases of reported sexual harassment by women sportsperson during 2017-22. Cases seen in a decade number 45, said the daily, adding that the women sportspersons come from poor background and it could very much be possible that many of them could easily have succumbed to the pressure not to report cases of such harassment.
The daily is too mild in its comment to let go the predators in the sports body, for it fails to question why politicians in the first place should head the sports federations. Why should the likes of Jai Shah and Anurag Thakur (cricket), Singh (wrestling), etc., head the sports body? Since the politicians will not leave the positions, judiciary must step in and kick them out. The athletic and football federations are now headed by PT Usha and Kalyan Choube (former goalkeeper), because of the judicial role, which must be extended to all sports bodies.
KCR Company
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao is a bitter rival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and he seeks company of Opposition leaders to oust the BJP from the Centre in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. His show of appeal in the Opposition ranks with a rally at Khammam saw participation of Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Singh Mann (Aam Aadmi Party), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Pinarayi Vijayan (CPI-M) and D Raja (CPI).
The Pioneer in an Editorial turned the spotlight on missing Nitish Kumar and took potshot at Bihar Chief Minister for his claim that he was not aware of the rally. The Noida-based daily stated that efforts for the Opposition unity are ad-hoc. The daily also questioned the aversion of the regional parties against Congress, arguing that despite being in the poor shape the grand old party still polled 17 per cent votes. The daily also came down heavily on KCR for claim that while he seeks nationalization, Modi is spearheading privatization. It said that KCR vision is to take India back to days of pre-liberalisation.
The opposition ranks consist of the quarrelsome regional satraps who lack national vision and narrative. They are mired in scams, which limit the scope of their acceptance among the people. They are misers of Indian politics.
Take a bow, Ardern
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardren is only 42 years old. She became the youngest head of the state in 2017, when she was 37 years old. Now, she has quit, saying there’s not much left in her tank. The Asian Age in an Editorial has richly lauded Ardren, recalling that she led her country during the pandemic and came out with much loss of life, while she made her country top destination for the people all around the world. If her example is followed in India by even 10 per cent of the politicians, Indian politics may look less toxic.
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