India does not deserve the Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth countries, including India, Australia and England, all have their fair share of shock jocks. The rush for news to sate a voracious public sees some TV Channels scoop to fabrication. But when a bridge collapses near the venue of the Commonwealth Games and a day later a roof comes tumbling down, heads must roll.

The Commonwealth Games in Delhi, scheduled for October, is an opportunity to sell more papers and increase ratings. This was supposed to showcase a sporting event.

Sadly, scandal, bureaucratic bungling and terror remain the stories that attract readers and viewership. As you eat your vegemite on toast, you deplore the shocking conditions in the Games Village. As you board the train and transit security at Kingsford Smith, you are outraged at the lack of it around the Games venues.

A Channel 7 reporter boasts that he was unopposed in walking through with a wheeled suitcase that could have housed explosives. This is news.

What has not been reported is that it was at an empty venue. The fact that there was no danger to anyone except the reporter is conveniently ignored.

This was scare-mongering.

I challenge this reporter to reproduce this “bravado” when the Games are on and the paratroopers have orders to shoot on sight. He would not be game to do this at any airport in India.

The Channel 7 reporter was amazed at the ease with which he could procure explosive materials in Delhi. What is not reported is that it is just as easy in most metropolitan cities around the world.

A busload of tourists was fired on in a busy part of Delhi. India, like many other countries, remains a target for terrorists. It has been for a long time.

I am all too aware of the corruption and scams that are associated with large government contracts. It happens everywhere where greed dictates priorities. It does not excuse it, but this is the compromised world we live in.

A roof collapsed yesterday over the weightlifting arena and it is provident this happened now rather than on a weightlifter in competition. Cement with a little sand and water gives you concrete that is secure. A little cement with a lot of sand lines the pockets of a crooked contractor and could have killed someone.

It is anyone’s guess how many Indians are killed on a daily basis due to shoddy infrastructure.

Inspection certificates have been routinely forged and the world has every right to question the safety at all the venues. Dani Samuel has every right to pull out.

Maybe this will shame the Indian politicians because so far nothing has.

Is the terror threat legitimate? Of course it is. That is why 150,000 soldiers, including commandos, police and reserves, have been mobilized.

Can India guarantee there will be no terror attacks? No it cannot.

India has recently held a Hockey World Cup. It is host to the Australian Cricket team at present. There are insane people out there in all walks of life. India is especially vulnerable. It is a risky world we live in. 1.2 billion people live in India. Over 60 percent eke out a meager existence and this is a shame.

Is the Government doing anything?

It has an education, health and housing budget that can deliver a better way of life. This is diluted by the avarice of politicians and some private service providers. Corruption, sadly, is ingrained in a large percentage of the civil service.

It is anything but civil.

Australia has every right to complain about the “cleanliness” of the Village and it is naïve for the Minister in India to put this down to “differing perceptions of hygiene” Dirt is dirt in any language.

Literacy is around 60 percent. This translates to 700 million that have basic reading and writing. 200 million go beyond primary school and over 100 million go on to tertiary degrees. Most ministers seem only to have passed a University in a speeding official car.

It is not a country of snake charmers and carpet salesmen but it certainly has its fair share of shyster politicians and unscrupulous corporates.

It has some of the world’s greatest writers, mathematicians and surgeons. It has also some of the best cricketers and chess players. Indians do not deserve the politicians in charge.

They deserve a lot better.

Figures can be twisted to prove a point of view. But looking at the IMF (International Monetary Fund) GDP (nominal) India is ranked 11 and Australia 13.This is not an argument that India can use to project its superiority.

For the sake of objectivity when you look at GDP per capita Australia ranks 11 and India 139. The general standard of living is undeniably higher in countries like Australia and England.

India has a great Prime Minister who is sadly hampered by Ministers not sharing his same high ideals

Recently a high ranking Rio Tinto executive was charged with bribery in China.

The Australian Wheat Board has its own skeletons. Bribery is not an Indian invention but it has been institutionalized in India in a manner that is both brazen and without shame.

Ministers in India have been known to boast that they would “approve anything for a million dollars” The Indian Prime Minister laments the fact that billions may be illegally banked in Swiss accounts. Some say it may be trillions.

So next time you read a sensational headline, think of the culture and hospitality of a country desperate to prove itself as a caring and inclusive secular democracy. India survives not because of its politicians, but in spite of them.

Look beyond the headline and you will see humanity struggling to make sense in a world that is not always fair.

Indians, in India and abroad, are aware of the limitations in transparency and propriety. There are no excuses. I will not make any for what is indefensible.

But I will appeal for reasoned and informed debate.

It is still eleven days before the start of the games. Independent safety experts must be called in to verify all the structures that directly affect the athletes and the spectators. Insensitive and unqualified ministers cannot be trusted.

It would be understandable if England, Australia and New Zealand withdrew. It would not be a shame if the Games were called off.

Once again it will be the athletes who save the thick skin of politicians immersed in their twisted concept of self-help. Helping themselves to the taxpayer’s money!

Ric Charlesworth threw his hands up in despair and left India. Indian Sport has been run by self serving politicians for too long. These people are more reprehensible than any bookie or player fixing matches.

India has been callous in its disregard for the most vulnerable and poor of its citizenry. It must put its own house in order before it gallivants on the world stage proclaiming credentials of a Super Power. This phrase is over rated and often masks a marginalization of the weakest in the community.

I despair for the hundreds of millions of well meaning Indians that have to live with politicians that have made an artform of corruption. Cricket’s image in India is tarnished. Hockey has been crippled by bureaucracy and the Commonwealth Games is testimony to the avarice of Governments and Corporations.

The Indian government owes an apology to the world and to its own people.