PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Victory should be celebrated in a sportsman's spirit
There could be nothing more appealing for Indians than a cricket match, and ironically, there could be nothing more appalling and repulsive than the street display of chauvinism that comes with every cricket tournament. The national pride that came with the victory of the Indian cricket team in the 20-20 series at Johannesburg on Monday may be understandable but certainly not the prejudice which started when the series began culminating on the day of the final match. Worse still, the prejudice was further embellished with superstitions. The television channels went overboard with astrological predictions and a wide range of tarot card readers. Or else, they telecast scenes of Indians performing special prayers for the Indian cricket team, depicting how the entire nation was behind the team in this moment. Soon after the Indian cricket team clinched the series, having defeated Pakistan cricket team, in a nail biting finish, the people spilled out on the roads, the heads of the state found it mandatory to dole out chauvinistic statements about how cricket symbolised pride. On Monday, while Johannesburg witnessed some good cricket with a neck to neck competition between the two final teams of India and Pakistan, the streets of India witnessed the worst bout of sportsmanship with chauvinistic and ugly slogans renting the air, drum beats and bhangra dances on the road and groups of people moving on roads waving the Indian tri-colour. No doubt, the joy of the people in the country stems from the victory of a team they had been supporting all through the series. But why should a nation's pride simply hinge on the performance of a team of 11 players? Cricket, like any other sport, is not just a game of skill and hard work but also a matter of chance, especially in the case of the 20 overs match where hit and run trend can tilt the balance in any one's favour any time. So was the case with the India-Pakistan match on Monday, which could have been anybody's game with Pakistan in need of six runs in four balls but no wicket in hand. When the last man Misbah-ul-Haq swung the ball in the air with his bat, it could well have been a six, had the Indian fielder Rajinder Sharma dropped the catch. Though the latter deserves all praise for his efforts, it indeed is amusing that this bit of a performance alone could have reversed the tide. Would the mobs swelling on streets of Indian cities have been so badly soused in euphoria of victory as to begin raising anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan slogans? Would communal violence have erupted in Rajouri soon after the victory, forcing police to fire several rounds in the air to quell the disturbance? Perhaps, the same frenzied mobs would have busied themselves raising anti-Indian cricket team slogans, or even got down to tearing down home and cities that Dhoni and his team of 11 hail from; and everybody on the television channels would have got down to analysing the finals of the series in the context of match-fixing.
How can a mere cricket match become the ultimate test of the pride and patriotism of a country? A well played match is indeed a source of joy, and a victory can also be a matter of pride for some. But can it be the be-end and all-end of a country that has innumerable problems that can be symbols of nation's collective pride or failure? Is the nation's pride measured simply by 11 men on a cricket pitch? And is the patriotic fervour so weak that it can simply crumble if these 11 men fail in salvaging the false pride of rest of the nation that turns oblivious to all other issues like corruption, poverty, mal-nourishment and illiteracy. Unfortunately, the chauvinism associated with cricket in this country forbids anyone to even praise the master strokes of players from another country, leave alone be indifferent to the game. It becomes simply a matter of life and death, which indeed defies the very spirit of cricket or any other sport. Cricket needs to be played and viewed in the proverbial spirit of cricket. And, this is true of all games. What matters in sports competitions is to play well to win, but not to win at any cost and certainly not to use the victory as an occasion to humiliate any other country. When pride gets transmuted to prejudice, it is neither a moment of pride for cricket, nor for the nation.

Women denied their due
Gender equality is still a distant dream
Politicians of various hues have been paying only lip service to the cause of women and gender equality. No doubt women in the country have come forward on their own to make a mark in different spheres of life. But still they have been denied their due in various spheres but are also suffering due to male chauvinism and discriminatory policies pursued by the successive regimes. The politicians have been talking of women empowerment but they are making every effort to create hurdles in the way of reservation for women in the Parliament and state legislatures. Their representation in these bodies is negligible though they constitute nearly fifty percent of the population. The condition of women is even worse in Jammu and Kashmir where only a couple of women have found berths in the legislature. The political parties have failed to honour their commitment to put up large number of women candidates in the elections for the legislature. In its Common Minimum Programme the present multi-party coalition had promised to ensure gender equality and empowerment of the women. Congress, the major partner in the coalition, is headed by a woman, Sonia Gandhi. The other main coalition partner, PDP, too has a woman President. Still the two major coalition parties are keeping women away. The council of ministers headed by Ghulam Nabi Azad does not have a single woman member. Though the State government had set up a Women Commission to protect the rights of women and promote the cause of gender equality this body is headless for the last four years. The present coalition has not thought it necessary to nominate the chairperson and other members of the commission with the result that this institution, which could have worked for the protection of women's rights, has become redundant. Even the women development corporation set up to provide employment avenues to the women and work for their overall economic development has been denied a full time independent woman chairperson. It has been reduced to the level of a government department, thus failing to fulfill the objectives for which it was set up. How is it that those in power in the State have not thought it prudent even to appoint heads of these organizations and make them functional? That only shows their total lack of commitment to the cause of gender equality and empowerment of women. The failure of the State rulers in appointing heads of these institutions and ensuring their functioning as autonomous organisations only betrays their anti-women attitude. It appears that while talking of gender equality they want to keep the women away from every sphere.