It fills the people of any country with enthusiasm when a player from that country wins a gold medal. But, when politics starts taking place on the victory or defeat of any player, then nothing more unfortunate can happen. The entire country was wishing Vinesh Phogat a good performance, but did not know that if she won, it would be publicized as a defeat for the Indian government. Now that Vinesh has been declared ineligible for the Olympics, the game of political commentary has turned upside down. This is even more unfortunate. The politics being done on Vinesh’s disqualification is also no less dangerous. Whatever happened to Vinesh, the country lost only one gold medal, but politics in her name will weaken the spirit of those who dream of winning lakhs of medals, obviously nothing worse can happen than this.
Why was Vinesh Phogat declared ineligible?
In a shocking development on Wednesday, Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the Olympics after she was found overweight ahead of the final of the women’s 50 kg wrestling event. Vinesh had created history on Tuesday night by becoming the first Indian female wrestler to reach the gold medal in this event. The official statement said that this morning he was found overweight by about 150 grams. It is being told that Vinesh tried to lose weight throughout the night. But, she could not reach within 50 kg. Vinesh Phogat became unconscious in the morning due to fatigue overnight, after which she was admitted to the hospital. To overcome dehydration, he was given a saline bottle.
According to UWW rules, if an athlete does not participate or fails to weigh in, he or she will be eliminated from the competition and will be placed last without a rank. The Indian delegation requested to give extra time to Phogat to meet the weight criteria, but their request was rejected. PM Narendra Modi has also called the head of the Indian athletic team PT Usha and asked her to lodge a strong protest with the IOC.
A day before Vinesh’s victory there was no celebration but teasing.
Political rhetoric started as soon as Vinesh won the semi-final match. Suddenly memes started being made against PM Modi. As if Vinesh has defeated PM Modi and not the Japanese player. One of the memes which was going viral was the picture of PM Modi along with his voice requesting Vinesh Phogat to pick up the phone. It is noteworthy that PM Modi was congratulating every medal winner by calling him. Many journalists also started appealing to Vinesh that PM Modi should not pick up the phone or should give a befitting reply on the phone.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, considering this occasion as an opportunity to showcase his politics, tried to target the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. Congratulating Vinesh, Rahul Gandhi sarcastically wrote on social media website X, ‘All those who denied the struggle of Vinesh and her colleagues, raised questions on their intentions and capability, have received their reply. Today, the entire system of power that had made her cry tears of blood had collapsed in front of the brave daughter of India. This is the identity of champions, they give their answer from the field. Best wishes Vinesh. The echo of your success in Paris is clearly heard till Delhi.
This sarcasm of Rahul Gandhi can be easily understood. Former Olympian and wrestler Bajrang Punia, who was a part of the protest, also took a dig at the NDA government at the Centre. Bajrang wrote on X that ‘This girl was kicked and crushed in her own country, this girl was dragged on the streets in her own country, this girl was going to conquer the world but was defeated by the system in this country.’
Politics over Vinesh’s disqualification
Politics started immediately after Vinesh was disqualified before playing the final in the Olympics. As soon as the news of disqualification of Vinesh, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and President of Samajwadi Party, was received, a deep investigation was demanded. Didn’t even wait for the news to come out about what happened to Vinesh Phogat. Vinesh Phogat’s uncle and her coach Mahavir Phogat were also seen avoiding making allegations even once while talking to India Today. But Akhilesh Yadav could not wait that long. Akhilesh Yadav writes that, ‘There should be a deep investigation into the technical reasons discussed for Vinesh Phogat not being able to play in the final and it should be ensured that what is the truth and what is the real reason behind it.’
Vijendra Singh is a boxer who has also gone to the Olympic Games. After being a Congress leader for a few days, he is now with BJP. He says that Vinesh’s disqualification is a conspiracy against India. However, Bajrang Punia had expressed concern about reducing weight in an interview given to BBC even before the match.
Only Government of India and wrestling organization will support Vinesh, no one else
Those doing politics in the name of Vinesh Phogat are making a player a pawn for their own benefit. Whenever Vinesh needed, the Government of India came forward and helped her. Be it a visa issue or his inclusion in the Olympic team. Every time the government paid attention to Vinesh’s words. Before leaving for Paris, Vinesh herself had thanked the Sports Ministry and the Government of India for this by writing a post on X. Even today, when Vinesh is in trouble, only the sports association, wrestling organization and the Government of India will help her. Those who do politics on Vinesh will only spoil her work. Due to which a talent of India will be wasted. Today when Vinesh was in trouble, PM Modi wrote on X- ‘Vinesh, you are a champion among champions! You are the pride of India and an inspiration for every Indian. Today’s failure hurts. I wish I could express in words the despair I am feeling. Plus, I know you are the epitome of resilience. It has always been your nature to face challenges. Come back stronger! We are all praying for you.
ANI quoted sources as saying that PM Modi has talked to PT Usha about the options available to India after Vinesh’s defeat. He asked them to explore all options for help in Vinesh’s case. He also urged PT Usha to lodge a strong protest regarding her disqualification if it helps Vinesh.
The lesson is that ‘negative happiness’ can be suicidal
Our elders have always said that we should not keep negative happiness for any happiness. It was seen that there was a section in the entire country which was more happy than Vinesh winning the medal because the wrestler had defeated former Kushti Singh president Brajbhushan Sharan Singh and PM Narendra Modi. Due to the happiness of such people, a promising player of the country was noticed. In fact, nowadays some people in the country have become so blind against Narendra Modi that they start protesting without understanding the facts. Vinesh Phogat has not talked about any conspiracy behind her disqualification, but many people in the country have already started smelling a conspiracy. It should be understood that Vinesh’s disqualification is a loss for the country. Because, the country has lost an Olympic medal.