By M.C. Linthoingambee
The spirit of sports is like a flicker of light that stands even with the wind blowing. The quote of Mary Lou Retton that “A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever” perhaps explains what is best expected out of the ideal of sports. With many developments taking place in the sports realm, there have been several demands for certain changes to be in order. The Government of India introduced the National Sports Development Bill, 2013 in the cabinet on August 30, 2011 with the intention to implement certain necessities that travels with the increasing impact of sports on the society. The Ministry of Youth Affairs under the leadership of Justice Mukul Mudgal, Chairman of the Working Group has constructed the immense capacity of the bill thereby promoting the cause of battling against the cause of sporting fraud, age fraud and sexual harassment in the sporting field.
The provisions of the tentative bill assert certain government responsibilities whilst calling for any sort of addition, which can be made within the ambit of the bill from the general public. In the wake of events that occurred in the end of 2012 in December where the Indian Olympic Committee issued a ban on the Indian Olympic Association, suggestions have also been made not to allow a person who has been charged under section 228 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to contest for any of the election conducted among the various national sports organizations. As we all know, it tough to build a career out of sports henceforth, provisions for providing the sportsman with essential necessities of life is seen as a dire necessity. We have also paid witness to MC Mary Kom struggling with the funding of her boxing academy wherein she has taken up the cause of teaching boxing for the who wants to thrive in sports. This one act of random kindness at a time is what will change the future of sports tomorrow. Discipline, integrity, teamwork, etc are some of the important qualities one must possess before reaching for the stepping stones. Availing of sufficient amount of funds is a dire necessity in the first step of building a block. Even with the government providing funds and other measures to befit the role of teaching, we are still far behind in the actual implementation of terms thereby we should affirm these responsibilities to a certain organization which very will help in organizing practicality. There has also been ideas to develop and promote the ideals of Paralympic Sports, Special Olympic Sports, Olympic sports, sports for visually and hearing impaired in the whole. This defines that there be no reason that these people would not be inclined to the same spirit of sports like the others. It has also been in view that certain organizations like National Olympics Committee, National Sports Federation, and Athletics Committee shall see to the smooth functioning of sports in the region. Withholding the cause of transp
arency in sports should be made the main aim whilst attaching to preventing match fixing, bidding, etc done in the sports inside and beyond the sports field. These acts should be penalized and whoever is involved should receive the appropriate punishment with appropriate laws. An Appellate Sports Tribunal has been proposed with the selection committee consisting of the Chief Justice of India or his nominee judge, Secretary, Department of Sports, and the President of the National Olympic Committee. Does this mean that the reluctance of some players to play by the rules shall lessen? The government should thus play the required role of establishing domain but at the cost of upholding the spirit of sports and not encroaching upon the rights completely.
Sports consist mainly of all forms of competitive physical activity built to compete, maintain or build physical ability or skills whilst providing entertainment to the participants and its spectators. But all places require a certain authority in action in order to look into the law and order of the spirit of sportsmanship. In the hope of upholding the spirit and nurture the art of sports, a new bill called the National Sports Development Bill, 2013 has been proposed for the sole purpose of controlling the pivot of ethics and value in sports, thereby such a bill should be encouraged. As Jeremy H quotes, “Pain is temporary but victory is forever.”
On a different track, the displaced riot victims hailing from Muzaffarnagar (a place they thought was their home) are in an area where they can no longer go back. The end of August of 2013 saw clashes in the Muzaffarnagar District of Uttar Pradesh, India, claiming the lives of 43 people and also resulted in the injuries of 93 people and more. These attacks have been described as “the worst violence in Uttar Pradesh in recent memory,” as a result of which, the army was deployed in the state for the first time in 20 years. With the amount of bloodshed and the communal dilemma in the shelter of a democratic country whose constitution strongly opens to the idea of a secular state has little to offer in practice in the outback of the 21st century. The cold has been strolling and playing on lives as more and more can no longer handle the constraint and has ruptured through death, illness. Who is supposed to help these people? Some of these people have refused to never return to that place again in spite of assurances that the place is safe now. Where do they go? A large portion of the land where they are currently taking shelter belongs to the Forest Department and they can’t stay there for long. Series of questions lie and we can still have no answer as to what will happen.
In terms of investigations to counter back the recourse of the attacks and attempts, seventeen FIRs have been lodged against leaders of the certain political parties. The Uttar Pradesh Government has also announced that a one member judicial commission composed of Justice Vishnu Shahay, a retired Judge of the Allahabad High Court shall be taking into account of the turn of events as on 9th September 2013. Even though reports on the outbreak have been asked to be submitted to the government desks, will this do? Weighing down lives on a weighing scale has certainly never been seen as a true way to administration of justice. In a rescue mission, relief camps have been organized by the State Government for the victims consisting entirely of 9,000 families with over 50,000 family members therein. That’s quite a lot of number to settle scores for, and even though the shelters are underway in the variant districts of Shamli and Muzaffarnagar, little relief measures are being undertaken. The death toll is raising as an aftermath to the event as findings of the National Human Rights Commission numbers it to seven with more and more intake to women and children. And the winter does add on to the disadvantage as the numbers of deaths are suddenly pacing speed. We have not forgotten them, but there are so little we can do rather than reflect. This is wrong perhaps with an immense violation of human rights both in national and international arenas. This is not the right of conducting a parade of thrilling recognition of power over the pensive of occupancy and existence of a religion.
Article 21 defines Right to Life and it is time to extend and look further into the expressly laid down provisions of these words. Don’t these people deserve the same rights? Or are we to merely culminate them and throw them off as though they were part of an epidemic? There are no sure processing machinery to assure that such nature of emergency dealing with lives are to be looked after as a first priority in the government agenda instead of setting aside the rules of secularism. India is one of the many nations filled with diverse cultures wherein creating equality in the idea of secularism to avail any individual who is an Indian citizen to follow any religion they like and choose. We are all far educated than those days so being communal is a step further down to developing as nationalists in spite of our harsh efforts to put aside the religious descends and see ourselves as people who shed blood of the same color.
(M.C. Linthoingambee is an undergraduate pursuing B.Com. LL.B(H). An avid blogger, poet, a seasonal artist and a foodie, she is also a life member to the Indian Society of the Red Cross.)