This refers to the report “Old guard blocks sports reform bill” (Aug.31), and aptly depicted in “Cartoonscape” (Aug. 31). This is a clear case of the government again allowing a coterie of ministers and MPs, both ruling and in the opposition, and well known to be the real force behind sports bodies like the BCCI, to dictate terms. Can there be a clearer indication of how deeply entwined our system of governance is with a money spinning enterprise, through the deep pockets of corporate lobbies? How can solutions like the Lokpal bill alone get society out of the quagmire of a neo-liberal capitalist system? It is so deeply entrenched that a sports body, mainly built up to represent Indian public interest in cricket, is able to reject the scrutiny of an RTI enacted by Parliament under the false premise that it does not enjoy any government largesse. Unless the power of such vested interests that are eating into our political system and destroying its required repute of service to the people is eliminated, there cannot be light at the end of the tortuous tunnel for achieving a society bereft of inequalities and impoverishments.
Kasim Sait,
Chennai
