The history of the Olympic Games is dotted with boycotts for different political considerations and causes.
“Sports should not be mixed with politics” is a clichéd sentiment that only the hard-core athlete will understand or the genuine sports-lovers will listen to. Politicians and governments across the globe continue to use sports as a tool to bargain, pressure and protest.
No wonder then that speculation should mount through the past three months about a possible boycott of the London Olympics by India in protest against Dow Chemical's sponsorship of the Games in support of the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984.
Now that none other than the Union Sports Minister, Ajay Maken, has refused to rule out the possibility of a boycott, despite the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) stating that the question did not arise, it is time to take note even if the talk of a boycott may remain in the realm of speculation in the next four months.
Answering questions related to Dow and the Government's stand on India's participation in the Games, in an interview on CNN-IBN on Sunday night, Maken said that if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not drop Dow as a sponsor then the question of India boycotting the Games could come up.
Asked by the interviewer that since the IOA wanted Dow to be dropped but did not want India to boycott the Games and whether he would be willing to listen to that voice, Maken answered: “Well if the first thing happens then the second thing would not (be) required.”
To the follow-up question, “but if the first doesn't happen?” Maken answered, “Then we will think about the second thing”.
The minister said the athletes “will play a very important role in our decision”.
It is difficult to imagine now or in July, any Olympics-qualified/entered athlete stepping out and saying “yes minister we want India to boycott” even though every one of them is bound to empathise with the Bhopal victims.
However, it would be logical and desirable in the preparations of the athletes if the government comes out and makes a categorical statement about India's participation now itself rather than weeks ahead of the Games.
No one disagrees with the government, the protestors or those backing them that the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy should get adequate compensation.
People do ask, however, why the Government has not taken steps to dissociate with Dow in our own country instead of trying to pressure the IOC and the London organisers with the Olympics round the corner.
Only on Monday, the IOA acting president, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, pointed out that the Indian Council for Agricultural Research had held a seminar last month with sponsorship from Dow!
An Indian boycott will not hurt the IOC or the London organising committee (LOCOG). It will not affect the quality of the competitions as had happened with major boycotts in 1976, 1980 and 1984 with the African, American and Eastern blocs respectively staying away from the quadrennial games.
It will, however, dash the hopes of around 100 Indian sportspersons.
Last month, the ministry wrote a letter, signed by a joint secretary, to the IOC President, Jacques Rogge, urging the IOC to cancel the Dow sponsorship. Maken and the ministry are waiting for a response from the IOC.
No observer of the IOC's way of functioning would believe that the IOC would change its stand, as clarified earlier in its letter to the IOA acting president that Dow was not responsible for the Bhopal gas tragedy.
As for the ministry's reported intention to refuse permission to government representatives to be part of the Indian contingent at the opening and closing ceremonies — since denied by the minister — no one will shed a tear if that were to happen.
In all probability it may go unnoticed.
