A Problem Of Mindset: What Explains India's Olympic Disaster And Weak Response To Hindu Genocide In Bangladesh?

I have been a defender of Bharat for three decades (and of Narendra Modi since 2002). I am also known to be a staunch defender of Hindus, a wonderful people, who have raised some of the deepest questions on this Planet: "Who am I, why am I born again and again, what is Atma, What is karma, what is Dharma, how does God, He or She, reincarnate Himself or Herself at different times using different names and Scriptures?” 

I have repeatedly said that India can be the next world superpower, economic, political, nuclear, etc. I have emphasised that, in contrast to China, India is a vibrant democracy, with a liberal, western-loving people, and that the black karma (of killing one million Tibetans and three million of their own people) will catch up with Chinese sooner or later. Also, the good karma of India (having never really invaded another country to impose its religion) will help overtake the Chinese Dragon (sooner than later).

But sportswise? Look at India’s tally at the Paris Olympics: just six medals, five bronze and one silver; China’s tally: 73, out of which 39 are gold. What are the lessons in that?

One, this is pathetic, pathetic result for a nation of 1.4 billion.

Two, what is even more pathetic is that everyone has a good excuse (100 gm overweight, groin injury, hostile referee, etc) for this poor performance.

Three, Indians are good losers. They rush to their opponents, like Neeraj Chopra did to the Pakistani winner of the gold in javelin, to congratulate them. Losing to a Pakistani is either coincidence or symbolic.

Four, Indians seem not to work too hard to prepare themselves thoroughly and methodically so as to peak at the right time.

Five, as long as Indians have this colonial obsession with cricket, all other sports will be stifled and all media, sponsorship, ads and attention will be monopolised by a handful of spoilt super-stars who travel first class and practice little.

Cricket being a money-making machine, they go from match to match, test to test, international to international (killing in the process, Indian domestic cricket). But, it is worth noting that in these Olympics, some of India's big corporate houses made a major effort to promote, sponsor and broadcast the performances of  the Indian contingent (Thank you Mr & Mrs Ambani. Whatever is said about you, we are grateful for your efforts and hope you will not be discouraged by the failure of Indian sportsmen).

Six, the political leadership of India, namely the BJP government, instead of doing some hard soul-searching on why this massive failure happened and how to make drastic efforts at the ground level to remedy this, focuses on felicitating the handful of medal winners - and even losers.  - Among other things, there is a need to make sports compulsory from kindergarten onwards, pick up young talent early, nurture and sponsor them, increase the sports budget massively, and stop having political nominees as sports ministers. Accolades and disproportionate rewards are conferred on the few who succeed.

So how does this compare to what's happening in Bangladesh? Well, we must speak here about the Hindu mindset, because most of the sportsmen and women in Olympics are Hindus and it is Hindus who are getting butchered in Bangladesh and a Hindu leadership has been at the helm in India for more than a decade.

(Remember that most of the BJP leadership comes from the RSS, which, though it doesn't say so openly today, was created to defend Hindus). 

The lessons?

#1: Yes, Hindus are a good people, open, tolerant, and believing in the world as one family, but they have colonised minds. They never fight back and do not defend themselves. We saw this in Kashmir, when 3,50,000 Hindus fled without firing a shot. We also see how in Bangladesh they are like cattle waiting to be slaughtered. Here we must say that Mahatma Gandhi's preference for ahimsa, whatever his other qualities, has had a disastrous influence on Hindus (added to the Buddhist one, based on the claim that emperor Ashoka is supposed to have given up violence after seeing the carnage in the Kalinga battle). The reality is Ashoka converted to Buddhism to counter the strong political influence of the Jains then. In short, like in the Olympics, Hindus do not have the rage or even the eagerness to win. In French we say, "La rage de vaincre"

#2: The Hindu BJP leadership in India comprises many good women and men. Narendra Modi himself is a visionary leader, the best Prime Minister Bharat has ever had, and, in his initial years, he initiated bold and essential reforms and continues to do so (the Waqf legislation, for example). But the BJP is toothless when its own brothers and sisters, the Hindus of Bangladesh or Leicester or Kashmir, are slaughtered. A few goody-goody words do not win a battle. Again, I am a defender of Hindus. I have known LK Advani and MM Joshi, whom I call my friends, for long, but the BJP reaction to the killing of Hindus in Bangladesh is as pathetic as the results of the Indian contingent in Paris and shows the same characteristics - lack of determination, indecisiveness, absence of the burning desire to win. No courage. 

Whatever you say about Islam, Muslims never fear death when it comes to defending their Prophet or their brothers and sisters in Palestine.

#3: Indian politicians are good losers like Chopra. They felicitate Mohamed Yunus, who is probably a hardcore Muslim at heart, and is in the hands of the Bangladeshi army. He knows very well what is happening to the Hindus, Christians and Ahmaddiyas in his country.

Now, a word about China in the context of the Olympics: the Chinese show the same dedication and ruthlessness in politics that they displayed in their Olympic events and won 73 medals. They always have the better of India, because they know that the Hindus will rather talk and be duped, than stand with force (I am talking about political leadership, not Indian soldiers, who retain the last of the kshatriya spirit in India)

In conclusion, the Hindu mind is still colonised. Except for a few individuals, Hindus do not seem to have the will to fight and have forgotten the message of the Bhagavad Gita: that force and violence are dharmic when your people are killed, your women raped, your temples burnt, your houses destroyed, your borders threatened. 

Ultimately, #Hindulivesdontmatter to non-Hindus. 

Hindus and Hindu political leadership, note that you are in sports as you are in life. This must change and it CAN change. India must aim for 25 medals at the next Olympics and resolve to stand for Hindus the world over, with force and determination. 

(The author has written several books, including the latest, 'India, Hindus & Narendra Modi')