London Olympics 2012 - Should we take flight or not?

The demands for boycott of the 2012 Olympics seem to be gathering steam with less than a year going for the big event. The reason being the presence of Dow Chemical Company as one of the major sponsors for the Games. Dow Chemical Company had taken over Union Carbide which was responsible for the devastating Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984.

Boycotting the Olympics is perhaps not the best idea for us under the current circumstances, the reasons being manifold. Firstly, by boycotting the Games, the Games is not going to lose anything. The Games will still happen. Plus India doesn’t boast of any athletes or players who the World would miss at the Games were we to remain out of it. It is we who are going to be the losers (literally as well as branded!). Secondly, we have just about started to win medals in Olympics. What started with a Leander Paes’ Bronze in Atlanta(1996) has continued in every successive edition with atleast one medal being won by Indians. The last one at Beijing was special because we won our first Individual gold in the form of Abhinav Bindra and was the most productive outing at the Games with 3 medals overall. The consistency in winning has just about begun. By not participating, that momentum might be lost. Third, the Olympics happen once in 4 years, and is the biggest stage for an Olympic sportsperson. Lots of dreams are associated with the Games and it comes with tremendous preparation and practice for the years before the Games and also great amount of sacrifices. Qualifying for the Games is a very difficult proposition in itself. Someone might just have come within striking distance of a medal earlier and this might just be his/her last opportunity at it. With that kind of an attachment to the Games, it will be very unfair to ask the athletes to stay out of the Games. Fourth, the Games provide an opportunity for many athletes to prove themselves. Most of the athletes get noticed only after a significant performance at the Games. Life improves for a lot of them after the Games. Why deprive them of it?

But do we forget the victims of Bhopal 1984 and just move on? No. A protest is mandated. Dow has to pay for whatever happened. But the protest need not have to be a total boycott of the games. It can be done in many other ways. Mixing two totally different things can be a recipe for disaster.

A protest has to be just that, and not trying to enforce your opinion on others. Issues need to be sorted out by sitting across the table, discussing your points, debating on the points of others and then coming at a reasonable solution. As much as pressure tactics may be important, there should be a limit to it too. Exactly why at times I feel Anna’s protests are also not justified completely.

We need to realize that Olympics is a world forum, a place where the number of stakeholders is enormous and so are the stakes. A wrong action here or an uncalled for statement there might just worsen things for us! So let us be very thoughtful and careful about what we choose to do!