Lay off the Commonwealth Games!

The Indian Express and The Times of India (dated Aug, 7) carry an appeal from the Sahara India Pariwar to stop the recent "continuous and negative" media coverage of Delhi Commonwealth Games, 2010.

In the "Emotional Appeal" that spans through three-fourths of a page of the English dailies Mr Subroto Roy, Chairman of Sahara India, argues how negative coverage will "totally mar the successful conduct of the Commonwealth Games" and give a bad image to our country. It is interesting that The Indian Express (IE) and The Times of India which have themselves been at the forefront to highlight the Commonwealth Games (CWG) organisers’ misdeeds carry this appeal. Of course the newspapers have just provided advertising space to the Sahara India Pariwar (in return for a fee) and may not have the same viewpoint.

But wait, there is more to it. The media that only a few days ago looked to feed on the loopholes in the preparations for the Commonwealth Games and the Organising Committee are suddenly feeling a sense of responsibility towards the country’s biggest sporting extravaganza.

 The Editor-in-Chief of Indian Express, Shekhar Gupta in his editorial "National Interest" argues that we need to rescue the Games from the hystericals. He points out that the way the campaign against the games has been run underlines the dangers of "twitterisation of journalism" (where you charge without checking) also mentioning that the reporters of his newspaper broke four of the first stories that built the "hawa" of corruption.

Contrast this. Just two days before (Aug 5), one of the stories in Indian Express _ "Hosting Games bad decision," _ quoted Indian football captain Bhaichung Bhutia saying that the country was never ready to stage the event and even a nation like Malaysia was better placed to host the Games. The top Indian footballer had evidently based his assessment on his experience in the capital citing examples how during Durand Cup preparation his team trained in a park. It must be pointed out that football is not included in the Commonwealth Games. And 26 new training venues are being constructed for different sports for Delhi 2010. Apart from this, 16 training venues are being upgraded.

There is little doubt that the excessive media coverage of the delays and corruption allegations against the Organising Committee (OC) is now proving detrimental to the success of the Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010. The repercussions have not been limited to the suspension of corrupt officials and termination of illegitimate contracts. The Railway ministry, NTPC and Power Grid Corporation have threatened to pull out of the CWG as the lead partners. The allegations of corruption and inefficiency in the CWG Organising Committee have also brought the Lok Sabha to a halt. And there have been rallies against the alleged diversion of ST/SC funds.

Does this mean that the media has overdone its duty, causing very big damage in maligning the image of our country, as the chairman of Sahara Group asserts in his appeal? If so, the media should stop all negative coverage of the Delhi Commonwealth Games, 2010 until the successful staging of the event. If not, should the media be morally bound to postpone its campaign against the people who have allegedly misappropriated the country’s funds until the Games are over? The media must stop and rethink as the issue involves the hopes and aspirations of more than 1.2 billion people and the image of a great nation.

To wait for just two months is a small bargain for the greatest ever sporting event of a great country.

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