Salim Wins the First Commonwealth Games 2010 Gold

Harshit Bhardwaj

TOI Photo

What does Salim think about the Commonwealth Games after a long day toiling around old Delhi for earning minimum wages? He was supposed to benefit from the Games but instead his life was put at risk. CWG 2010 was given a lifeline by a non-descript slum-dwelling rickshaw puller named Salim. Irony of ironies- CWG actually went a long way to dislodge thousands like him out of Delhi and a Salim actually comes and saves CWG from sinking further into chaos and panic. Armed with a roadside brick, Salim scared away gun wielding miscreants out of the holy Jama Masjid area while a constable busily counted dropped cartridges.

Salim wins my nomination for the first CWG 2010 gold because he so truly encompassed the original spirit of the Commonwealth, where, representing an ex-colony (India) of British Empire he displayed exemplary spirit and courage to save the Masters (I know the victims were Taiwanese, but they could very easily be Britons or Australians). Those who know the CWG were originally named The British Empire Games would understand this better.

Some of the points to ponder from this incident-

• One of the busiest and most-sensitive area of New-Delhi ( Jama Masjid) was rescued by an unarmed rickshaw puller. What does this say about Delhi police? What do they have to show for security arrangements despite 2006 incidents?

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  Harshit Bhardwaj

  Only single police personnel to be found on the spot- he, too, was unarmed and unprepared. He couldn’t even note down the bike’s registration details. Maybe pen is also a luxury Delhi Police can’t afford.

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  With expenditure running in thousands of crores why they still need ‘warning shots’ to prepare contingency plans? Have they heard of ‘mock drills’?

Isn’t the tale of Salim the ‘Braveheart,’ a metaphor for a common Indian’s plight - acting out of instincts to risk his life for national pride; angry at all the corrupt politicians and soon forgetting because after all he can’t do anything; prepared even to forgive the CWG culprits for the sake of saving India’s ‘face’; and when a Salim lies dead of a terrorist’s bullet he dies not as a hero but as an accident the kind of which happens every hour on the landscape of democratic India.

Gold to Salim! Please.

P.S. Salim is the only bread earner for his family of four. His ailing wife is suffering from severe tuberculosis (since India – the next superpower believes in spending less on health and more on Games). No material reward has come Salim’s way for his daring act. While Kalmadi and Shiela revel in the mega-thrift event call the Commonwealth Games, common men like Salim are doomed forever!

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