Digging into the common wealth

And why not? It is common wealth and so all those who are a part of the CWG, directly or indirectly consider it to be their right to partake of it freely and merrily.

I am not surprised at the fact that there is corruption in the organizing of the CWG. I am however amazed at the sheer extent of it. India has set new records in the sport of corruption, whether it is able to set any new records in the games or not is a different matter. I am now firmly convinced that our prowess to indulge in corruption is much greater than that for genuine sporting events.

I recently had the occasion to attend one of the CWG dinners, ostensibly in the honor of visiting security personnel. Disgusted is a mild word to express what I really felt during the party. It was shameful to witness senior politicians attired in white kurta pajama dancing with scotch glasses in hand. If such is the character of the powers to be, the loot that is happening in the name of CWG is perfectly understandable.

CWG was meant to be an event of national pride. Rather it is emerging as an event of national shame. Till now only natural calamities were regarded as a bonanza for local officials and politicians. Now it appears that sporting events have overtaken natural calamities as they provide a much bigger canvas for extensive loot. How the hell can the nation and its citizens accept and condone the blatant loot of national wealth in the garb of CWG. And why should we? After all it is the taxpayers money, not the personal wealth of a couple of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats.

From newspapers reports it appears that the national govt has put its foot down in the matter of hosting the Asian Games. I hope it does the same for Olympics also, which if organized in India would enable a much grander loot of the national wealth by the corrupt. Their future dreams now lie shattered.

Till very recently I could not understand why a nation that has miserably failed in providing even basic necessities of life like water, electricity, sanitation and housing to its citizens, even in its own capital, should indulge in such transient extravaganzas. The recent reports in the media has perhaps provided all the answers.