|
Gill sacked, Bhajji banned: Shed no tears
Jagmohan Singh
NEW DELHI:
Strange how India calls a habitual loser its Supercop. KPS Gill even
shamed those who propped him up with unearned epithets for more than
two decades now. As a police officer, he earned ignominy and was
convicted in a case of moral turpitude. In the line of duty, he
bloodied his hands and soul with the killings of innocent Sikh
youth. In sports, he will always be known as the man who presided
over the death and final decimation of Indian hockey, cling like a
limpet to the body administering the sport and finally had to be
kicked out to the benefit of prime time international TV.
Afterall, a
Supercop's ignominy has to be multiplied a million-times and beamed
into all drawing rooms for his ego to be massaged. Rules made it
difficult to remove KPS Gill from Presidentship of Indian Hockey
Federation; so the sports domain honchos got together and knocked
out the IHF itself. Now Gill has nothing to head.
|
 A
hero we can do without
Harbhajan Singh is one hell of a PR disaster. Appears in liquor
ads, utters four letter words on the ground and unleashes the
adolescent in him at the first opportunity. Few Sikhs look upon
him as an iconic hero from the faith community and the guy has
as much value as a stand up comic as in the role of a spinner on
the 22 yard stretch that is the length of India's attention span
as a nation currently. (From WSN March 12- 18, 2008 edition)
|
|
 Aadmi
Tha Ke Self-Goal
If a man’s measure lay in the moustache, people would have found
salvation in a bottle of gel. The banh-maror muchh-maror
sardarlooking man has turned out to be a puny little fellow who
rollicks in a mess that he creates with aplomb and has still to
meet life and principle. . Of course, the official Indian
establishment still needs him. Regimes always need fiddlesticks
to kill the spirit of joysticks. Aadmi tha ke self goal! (From
WSN March 12-18, 2008 edition)
|
On the cricket
domain, Harbhajan Singh, never a pride of the Sikh community due to
his actions, liquor advertisements and sundry other trippings, was
banned from the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) after he
slapped a fellow cricketer. TV footage found him guilty, and the man
shared ignominy with KPS Gill on the same day, vying for his share
of prime time insults. In both cases, humiliation was in full
dosage, and self-inflicted.
While both were
Sikh faces, it is remarkable that the community did have to lose
face in either case. The Sikhs have never had any love lost for the
duo. KPS Gill killed the game of hockey. Harbhajan Singh killed the
spirit of cricket.
KPS Gill's
sacking and Harbhajan Singh's banning has thankfully left the
community aside because the two fellows have since long cast their
religion and religiosity aside. Harbhajan not long ago spouted some
teachings of the Tenth Sikh Master but it was clear that he has a
lot to learn in humility, a basic tenet of any faith.
Dictatorial
management, bad planning, no accountability, declining performance,
failure to qualify for Beijing Olympics and a bribery scandal were
cited as "persistent reasons" for dismantling the Indian Hockey
Federation. There were clear and public pressure from the
International Hockey Federation to clear up the mess in Indian
hockey. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's response was to make MS
Gill, the former Chief Election Commissioner, as the Sports minister
in place of Mani Shankar Aiyar, and let the two Gills slug it out.
The slugfest did not last long. A sting operation that felled Gill's
junior Jyothi Kumaran expedited things and soon Gill was on the mat.
Sections of the
Indian media did not stop trying to help out Gill. Full page
interviews, references to his 'supercop' image and behind the scenes
parleys did not stop. A Walking-Talking editor of an Indian national
newspaper interviewed Gill just hours before his final exit, giving
him full opportunity to make his case. In fact, at one stage, Gill
conceded he did not even remember the names of the selectors of the
Indian hockey team. And the Editor did not think of grilling Gill on
even such an admission.
Just as in the
moral turpitude case, Gill once again showed remarable capacity to
strike the axe on his own foot, often without moving the axe.
Harbhajan Singh,
the enfant terrible of Indian team, having escaped despite uttering
a choice Punjabi abuse on an Australian field, thought he will get
away with the slap, but the ubiquitous cameras nailed him.
Both thought they
were more important than the game. KPS Gill tried to run Indian
hockey the way he ran Punjab Police, all rules to the wind, and
became tyrant yearning for more. Harbhajan brazenly shunned humility
saying he only knows how to win. Both proved to be big losers.
Nothing of this
is surprising in India. As WSN has mentioned earlier on various
occasions, KPS Gill was given the post of hockey chief, to adjust
him after he was rendered jobless and the government of India was
obliged to adjust him. He was adjusted but hockey was killed in the
bargain. Never mind that. In the interest of the state, that is a
small sacrifice. After all, KPS Gill is the India nation-state's
hero, who being a Sikh, was responsible for the extrajudicial
killings of Sikhs in Punjab and 'crushing the rights movement'. It
was amusing to listen to KPS in the last few days talking of
'democracy and fair play'. Man, he did make us laugh!
At one point,
Gill had said those demanding his resignation were like professional
mourners, the Rudalis. Thankfully, Gill at least recognize that
things have come to such a pass that Rudalis are beating the path to
his doorstep. He still could not hear the word: "GO!"
And down he went, with no one
mourning. Indian Nation-State's Hero made for one of the biggest
Zeroes on prime time television. Such is the fate of the man.
30
April 2008
|
Read Also
