Concerns India will lose face over Commonwealth Games
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Is it true? Child labor work in India Commonwealth game site, thats really shocking and sad indeed!!
Monday, June 7th, 2010
Children work at Commonwealth Games site
Photographs released by Getty Images appear to show children working in rough conditions nearby to their parents at a Commonwealth Games construction site in Delhi.
Helping out their parents as they work elsewhere on the same project, young boys and girls are shown gathering stones into baskets and moving the heavy loads to clear space for drainage works.
Getty reports that children who are willing to work on construction of Nehru stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies are due to be held, are given money for bread and milk, and provided dinner by the contractor.
The Games are due to be held in the Indian capital in early October, but the Commonwealth Games Federation has repeatedly expressed concern about the slow pace of construction.
In an effort to complete venues on time, migrant workers are being welcomed from across India to work on the projects. Many live with their children in makeshift housing close to the construction zones.
Other photos appear to show both men and women with no safety wear performing manual tasks in potentially dangerous situations.
Getty suggests that these workers are being paid below the minimum wage in order to complete the projects while also being forced to live and work under sub-standard conditions.
Last week the High Court of Delhi sought a response from the Government over the alleged failure to provide all the benefits of labour laws to employees.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/6754499/children-toil-for-commonwealth-games/
Monday, June 7th, 2010
Children work at Commonwealth Games site
Photographs released by Getty Images appear to show children working in rough conditions nearby to their parents at a Commonwealth Games construction site in Delhi.
Helping out their parents as they work elsewhere on the same project, young boys and girls are shown gathering stones into baskets and moving the heavy loads to clear space for drainage works.
Getty reports that children who are willing to work on construction of Nehru stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies are due to be held, are given money for bread and milk, and provided dinner by the contractor.
The Games are due to be held in the Indian capital in early October, but the Commonwealth Games Federation has repeatedly expressed concern about the slow pace of construction.
In an effort to complete venues on time, migrant workers are being welcomed from across India to work on the projects. Many live with their children in makeshift housing close to the construction zones.
Other photos appear to show both men and women with no safety wear performing manual tasks in potentially dangerous situations.
Getty suggests that these workers are being paid below the minimum wage in order to complete the projects while also being forced to live and work under sub-standard conditions.
Last week the High Court of Delhi sought a response from the Government over the alleged failure to provide all the benefits of labour laws to employees.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/6754499/children-toil-for-commonwealth-games/
Molawchai
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A Commonwealth shame?
I have just finished reading a 116-page report by a committee appointed by the Delhi high court on the "condition of workers" engaged in construction work on Commonwealth Games sites in the Indian capital. The October Games, on which the government is spending more than $2bn, is the biggest international sporting event India has ever hosted.
The report is shocking. It confirms Delhi's worst kept secret - how the shiny new stadia and other infrastructure hide the exploitative and unsafe conditions that 150,000 workers have to work under. My colleagues who have ventured out to report the story have come back with tales of workers cowering in fear and refusing to talk, and contractors who hire them refusing to meet for interviews.
Frightening details emerge from separate reports filed by human rights groups to the high court. Tariq Adeeb of the respected Human Rights Law Network tells me that independent investigations have found that more than 70 workers have been killed in accidents at the sites since work began. In reports submitted to the court, groups talk about 48 workers dying in accidents. The court-appointed committee found that at the Games village alone, four workers had died in accidents and one woman worker had died in a fire.
"Accidents are taking place causing injury resulting in death and disablement - both temporary and permanent," the report for the court says. The committee investigated 10 Games sites.
Most of the workers at the building and construction sites come from outside Delhi - mainly Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Bihar and Orissa states.
"These workers, says the report, "are being made to work in harsh and unsafe conditions without basic amenities from the employers concerned."
Recruiting agents who hire migrant workers are required to obtain a licence from the authorities from the originating state. The report found that the majority of agents did not have licences. The workers are entitled to a "displacement allowance", but almost nobody has been paid it.
The report says the minimum daily wages are not being paid to all workers - the minimum daily wage for unskilled workers in Delhi is 151 rupees ($3.30), while the committee found workers on most Games sites are being paid on average 114 rupees ($2.50).
In many cases, the report says, the workers were not receiving overtime. And when they were getting it, they were being paid at the standard rate, not the statutory double time.A worker at a Commonwealth Games stadium under construction in Delhi
The exploitation of labour doesn't appear to end here - the report says the workers are never given a weekly day off with wages. They have no proof of employment as no wages slips are being issued.
A separate study by a rights group covering 702 workers at 15 key sites found that workers were not given leave even if they fell sick, and medical leave was granted only in 30% of cases. Most sites have little or no medical facilities.
Workers' safety - as I wrote here some months ago - is also apparently being widely flouted. Workers do not wear boots or gloves at many sites. "There were reports of accidents at almost every site, but the same could not be verified," the report says. Most of these accidents were not reported to the authorities.
The report has strongly criticised the living conditions of the workers. "Lack of overall hygiene, environmental sanitation and cleanliness was deplorable," the report said. Many of the workers "were living in rooms, often without doors, without protection during winter, without electricity and without toilets".
It found a bias against hiring women workers - there was only one crèche found at the Games village site - and that women were being paid less than men.
The court report says the agencies - government bodies, contractors, recruiting agents - involved in the construction refuse to take responsibility for such appalling work conditions and wage violations. Rights groups say the report is a damning indictment of the way government and private contractors treat workers and that it also confirms how they have made a mockery of India's labour and wage laws.
None of the Commonwealth Games officials, including the chairman of the organising committee, Suresh Kalmadi, took my calls when I tried to reach them for their reaction to the report. VK Gupta, a senior engineer of the CPWD, one of the government agencies involved in the construction work has said the violations are "isolated cases." Michael Hooper, chief executive of the London-based Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), was more forthright saying "there is no excuse for flouting the law".
"India has laws to protect the lives and safety of its workers. Obviously there is no excuse for any employer or agency to break these laws," he told the BBC.
"The contractor and hiring agencies at the Commonwealth Games should make sure the laws are adhered to. I fully back the recommendations of the court to have a monitoring group to be put in place to ensure violations dont happen."
When I asked him whether this was a big embarassment for the Games, Mr Hooper said: "This [kind of violation] is not unique to India. These violations, unfortunately, happen all over the word."
But what I find particularly galling is the silence of political parties on the state of workers. The local Hindu nationalist BJP has made an issue about the proposed serving of beef to guests at the Games. The Congress-led Delhi government is going to town with a planned "good manners" campaign, imploring the city's people to behave properly during the Games. The parties of the Left are silent. All this even as the government cleared nearly 700 million rupees in extra funds for the Games, taking its bloated budget to more than $2bn.
Athletes from 85 countries arrive in Delhi in October to participate in the 19th Games, which are supposed to showcase India's ability to host an international event. Human rights groups say it's a sham - and what was supposed to be a matter of national pride is fast beginning to look like a national shame.
BBC - Soutik Biswas's India: A Commonwealth shame?
Indians not deserved to host a Commonwealth game, this event is built on blood and mistreatment of workers and child labor, a shameful India event to show the world.
I have just finished reading a 116-page report by a committee appointed by the Delhi high court on the "condition of workers" engaged in construction work on Commonwealth Games sites in the Indian capital. The October Games, on which the government is spending more than $2bn, is the biggest international sporting event India has ever hosted.
The report is shocking. It confirms Delhi's worst kept secret - how the shiny new stadia and other infrastructure hide the exploitative and unsafe conditions that 150,000 workers have to work under. My colleagues who have ventured out to report the story have come back with tales of workers cowering in fear and refusing to talk, and contractors who hire them refusing to meet for interviews.
Frightening details emerge from separate reports filed by human rights groups to the high court. Tariq Adeeb of the respected Human Rights Law Network tells me that independent investigations have found that more than 70 workers have been killed in accidents at the sites since work began. In reports submitted to the court, groups talk about 48 workers dying in accidents. The court-appointed committee found that at the Games village alone, four workers had died in accidents and one woman worker had died in a fire.
"Accidents are taking place causing injury resulting in death and disablement - both temporary and permanent," the report for the court says. The committee investigated 10 Games sites.
Most of the workers at the building and construction sites come from outside Delhi - mainly Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Bihar and Orissa states.
"These workers, says the report, "are being made to work in harsh and unsafe conditions without basic amenities from the employers concerned."
Recruiting agents who hire migrant workers are required to obtain a licence from the authorities from the originating state. The report found that the majority of agents did not have licences. The workers are entitled to a "displacement allowance", but almost nobody has been paid it.
The report says the minimum daily wages are not being paid to all workers - the minimum daily wage for unskilled workers in Delhi is 151 rupees ($3.30), while the committee found workers on most Games sites are being paid on average 114 rupees ($2.50).
In many cases, the report says, the workers were not receiving overtime. And when they were getting it, they were being paid at the standard rate, not the statutory double time.A worker at a Commonwealth Games stadium under construction in Delhi
The exploitation of labour doesn't appear to end here - the report says the workers are never given a weekly day off with wages. They have no proof of employment as no wages slips are being issued.
A separate study by a rights group covering 702 workers at 15 key sites found that workers were not given leave even if they fell sick, and medical leave was granted only in 30% of cases. Most sites have little or no medical facilities.
Workers' safety - as I wrote here some months ago - is also apparently being widely flouted. Workers do not wear boots or gloves at many sites. "There were reports of accidents at almost every site, but the same could not be verified," the report says. Most of these accidents were not reported to the authorities.
The report has strongly criticised the living conditions of the workers. "Lack of overall hygiene, environmental sanitation and cleanliness was deplorable," the report said. Many of the workers "were living in rooms, often without doors, without protection during winter, without electricity and without toilets".
It found a bias against hiring women workers - there was only one crèche found at the Games village site - and that women were being paid less than men.
The court report says the agencies - government bodies, contractors, recruiting agents - involved in the construction refuse to take responsibility for such appalling work conditions and wage violations. Rights groups say the report is a damning indictment of the way government and private contractors treat workers and that it also confirms how they have made a mockery of India's labour and wage laws.
None of the Commonwealth Games officials, including the chairman of the organising committee, Suresh Kalmadi, took my calls when I tried to reach them for their reaction to the report. VK Gupta, a senior engineer of the CPWD, one of the government agencies involved in the construction work has said the violations are "isolated cases." Michael Hooper, chief executive of the London-based Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), was more forthright saying "there is no excuse for flouting the law".
"India has laws to protect the lives and safety of its workers. Obviously there is no excuse for any employer or agency to break these laws," he told the BBC.
"The contractor and hiring agencies at the Commonwealth Games should make sure the laws are adhered to. I fully back the recommendations of the court to have a monitoring group to be put in place to ensure violations dont happen."
When I asked him whether this was a big embarassment for the Games, Mr Hooper said: "This [kind of violation] is not unique to India. These violations, unfortunately, happen all over the word."
But what I find particularly galling is the silence of political parties on the state of workers. The local Hindu nationalist BJP has made an issue about the proposed serving of beef to guests at the Games. The Congress-led Delhi government is going to town with a planned "good manners" campaign, imploring the city's people to behave properly during the Games. The parties of the Left are silent. All this even as the government cleared nearly 700 million rupees in extra funds for the Games, taking its bloated budget to more than $2bn.
Athletes from 85 countries arrive in Delhi in October to participate in the 19th Games, which are supposed to showcase India's ability to host an international event. Human rights groups say it's a sham - and what was supposed to be a matter of national pride is fast beginning to look like a national shame.
BBC - Soutik Biswas's India: A Commonwealth shame?
Indians not deserved to host a Commonwealth game, this event is built on blood and mistreatment of workers and child labor, a shameful India event to show the world.
Molawchai
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Construction for Commonwealth Games Takes Toll on Indias Children
Thousands of additional children are on the streets of New Delhi as their parents toil to build Commonwealth Games venues and related infrastructure
As New Delhi prepares to host the 11-day Commonwealth Games in October, the city is undergoing an unprecedented $6 billion building boom and beautification campaign. Much of the work is being done by more than 400,000 contract daily wage workers who have migrated to the city. Many come with their families, including children who are being exposed to hazards, lack proper hygiene and adequate care.
Some estimate that preparations for the Games, the worlds third largest multi-national sporting event, have brought an additional 10,000 children into New Delhi. Many live in squalid conditions without electricity or adequate toilet facilities, a common situation for the estimated 150,000 homeless already living on the capitals streets or in its parks.
"In the rural area from where they are coming, it's almost a starvation situation, explains lawyer Subhash Bhatnagar, a social activist trying to help the children. It's a pushed-out factor, not pull factor that you will earn better in Delhi that is why you are coming. They are just pushed out of that area. They have nothing to fall back upon."
Kiran Bedi's husband is ill so she traveled with her four children 600 kilometers to Delhi to earn $2 a day and meals for her kids, who live below a highway overpass. Her children wander the construction site while she works.
"I've tried to put my children in government schools here but they are not accepted, Bedi says. They just dismiss us, saying we're 'labor class people.' Even if they would accept our children, how would we afford the fees?"
Some children benefit from programs run by non-profit organizations, such as Mobile Creches, which provides free schooling, day care and supplementary meals for up to 80 children at each of its facilities near 20 construction sites in the metropolitan area.
The children often move around to different sites and that constant mobility impairs their development, which hinders their access to education and health care, according to Anjali Alexander, the chairperson of Mobile Creches.
Its just cruel, says Alexander, predicting that the children who are malnourished at age two will still suffer health problems decades later.
The 1996 Building and Other Construction Workers Act requires one percent of the cost of construction projects be set aside by builders for a workers' welfare fund. Delhi has managed to accumulate $70 million, but advocates calculate that a mere $30,000 worth of benefits has actually reached workers.
Ninety-nine percent of children are not getting what they are entitled, claims Bhatnagar during a visit to one of the crèches where sitting alongside Alexander he plays with some of smaller children.
The cost for compliance would be minimal according to the coalition Citizens for Workers, Women and Children which estimates that decent living conditions for construction workers families and creches for their children would amount to less than 0.35 percent of project costs.
The problem is hardly novel for a city in a developing nation with an estimated population of 15 million people -- more than one-third of them living in slums.
On nearby Lodhi Road, some of New Delhis most expensive buildings sit side-by-side with shanties constructed of bamboo and plastic tarpaulin.
Alexander of Mobile Creches explains that the plight of the workers and their children does not concern most middle and upper class people in Delhi.
"Its complete apathy, Alexander laments. I mean you are desensitized, in a sense, because you see it every day. But, you know, it's not their issue."
The apathy, she says, starts at the top with the citys top officials turning their backs on the most vulnerable.
Government bureaucrats do not hesitate to acknowledge the immense scope of the problem but some bristle at the notion elected leaders are heartless.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, four months ago, launched an anti-child labor Time for Change campaign urging police to proactively take action against the most visible examples of juvenile exploitation, namely those children employed at the citys ubiquitous roadside tea stalls and similar establishments.
Local media attention, however, focuses on complaints that construction of Commonwealth Games venues are dangerously behind schedule rather than the plight of the workers and their families at the sites.
Activists say incidents of children wandering into traffic and getting hit by cars or succumbing from construction-site accidents are rarely recorded by authorities. Indias police, notorious for petty corruption, are seen as reluctant to take reports from the underclass, an expression of an organizational culture with roots in the British Raj.
The Delhi High Court has ordered a four-member committee, which includes Anrudhati Ghose, who is a former ambassador to the U.S. and U.N., to look into the allegations of rampant labor law violations at Commonwealth Games project sites.
Judges asked the committee to file its report by March 17. But rights groups expect the Games will be over and the workers and their families scattered before the legal process has run its course.
Construction for Commonwealth Games Takes Toll on India?s Children | Sports | English
Thousands of additional children are on the streets of New Delhi as their parents toil to build Commonwealth Games venues and related infrastructure
As New Delhi prepares to host the 11-day Commonwealth Games in October, the city is undergoing an unprecedented $6 billion building boom and beautification campaign. Much of the work is being done by more than 400,000 contract daily wage workers who have migrated to the city. Many come with their families, including children who are being exposed to hazards, lack proper hygiene and adequate care.
Some estimate that preparations for the Games, the worlds third largest multi-national sporting event, have brought an additional 10,000 children into New Delhi. Many live in squalid conditions without electricity or adequate toilet facilities, a common situation for the estimated 150,000 homeless already living on the capitals streets or in its parks.
"In the rural area from where they are coming, it's almost a starvation situation, explains lawyer Subhash Bhatnagar, a social activist trying to help the children. It's a pushed-out factor, not pull factor that you will earn better in Delhi that is why you are coming. They are just pushed out of that area. They have nothing to fall back upon."
Kiran Bedi's husband is ill so she traveled with her four children 600 kilometers to Delhi to earn $2 a day and meals for her kids, who live below a highway overpass. Her children wander the construction site while she works.
"I've tried to put my children in government schools here but they are not accepted, Bedi says. They just dismiss us, saying we're 'labor class people.' Even if they would accept our children, how would we afford the fees?"
Some children benefit from programs run by non-profit organizations, such as Mobile Creches, which provides free schooling, day care and supplementary meals for up to 80 children at each of its facilities near 20 construction sites in the metropolitan area.
The children often move around to different sites and that constant mobility impairs their development, which hinders their access to education and health care, according to Anjali Alexander, the chairperson of Mobile Creches.
Its just cruel, says Alexander, predicting that the children who are malnourished at age two will still suffer health problems decades later.
The 1996 Building and Other Construction Workers Act requires one percent of the cost of construction projects be set aside by builders for a workers' welfare fund. Delhi has managed to accumulate $70 million, but advocates calculate that a mere $30,000 worth of benefits has actually reached workers.
Ninety-nine percent of children are not getting what they are entitled, claims Bhatnagar during a visit to one of the crèches where sitting alongside Alexander he plays with some of smaller children.
The cost for compliance would be minimal according to the coalition Citizens for Workers, Women and Children which estimates that decent living conditions for construction workers families and creches for their children would amount to less than 0.35 percent of project costs.
The problem is hardly novel for a city in a developing nation with an estimated population of 15 million people -- more than one-third of them living in slums.
On nearby Lodhi Road, some of New Delhis most expensive buildings sit side-by-side with shanties constructed of bamboo and plastic tarpaulin.
Alexander of Mobile Creches explains that the plight of the workers and their children does not concern most middle and upper class people in Delhi.
"Its complete apathy, Alexander laments. I mean you are desensitized, in a sense, because you see it every day. But, you know, it's not their issue."
The apathy, she says, starts at the top with the citys top officials turning their backs on the most vulnerable.
Government bureaucrats do not hesitate to acknowledge the immense scope of the problem but some bristle at the notion elected leaders are heartless.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, four months ago, launched an anti-child labor Time for Change campaign urging police to proactively take action against the most visible examples of juvenile exploitation, namely those children employed at the citys ubiquitous roadside tea stalls and similar establishments.
Local media attention, however, focuses on complaints that construction of Commonwealth Games venues are dangerously behind schedule rather than the plight of the workers and their families at the sites.
Activists say incidents of children wandering into traffic and getting hit by cars or succumbing from construction-site accidents are rarely recorded by authorities. Indias police, notorious for petty corruption, are seen as reluctant to take reports from the underclass, an expression of an organizational culture with roots in the British Raj.
The Delhi High Court has ordered a four-member committee, which includes Anrudhati Ghose, who is a former ambassador to the U.S. and U.N., to look into the allegations of rampant labor law violations at Commonwealth Games project sites.
Judges asked the committee to file its report by March 17. But rights groups expect the Games will be over and the workers and their families scattered before the legal process has run its course.
Construction for Commonwealth Games Takes Toll on India?s Children | Sports | English
relax, dude. this is normal when there are new menbers from the both sides. they will troll at each other for some time and then be quiet after there is nothing new to troll anymore or they got tired of doing so. in fact, almost every trolling comment they posted have been posted before, nothing new!
To Chinese forumers,
Many countries in the world are looking up to China to see it can be a new good leader to replace the old West. So behave yourselves. Do not always bad mouth other countries like the West.
Many countries in the world are looking up to China to see it can be a new good leader to replace the old West. So behave yourselves. Do not always bad mouth other countries like the West.
Amritsari sardar
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With a thumbs-up, guess who holds India hand? Pak
Mon, Sep 27 06:02 AM
The Malaysian and Botswanian teams today joined the ranks of those complaining against the state of affairs in the Commonwealth Games Village, while the South African envoy cried "a threat to the lives of athletes" after a snake was found in one of the rooms allotted to the country's sportspersons.
However, there was good news on at least one front for the beleaguered Commonwealth Games officials: Pakistan. Not only have officials from the country given a thumbs-up to the arrangements and security preparedness for the Games, but also accused "Westerners" of being overly critical.
"We have been given complete assurance by the organisers and our security liaison officer is in India at the moment. We trust the Indian government to provide full protection, and we have no security concerns. Hopefully our entire 75-member contingent will be in India on the 29th as planned," Pakistan Olympic Association president Syed Arif Hasan told The Indian Express on Sunday.
In present times, Hasan noted, no country can assure completely incident-free events, except guaranteeing foolproof security. "We have had teams in India before and not had any problems," he said.
While Hasan added that "it would have obviously been better if the infrastructure had been ready in advance", he said he understood that there could be delays. "We have also had floods and a lot of rain, and the country is reeling under its effects. So nature cannot be predicted or controlled. Even in Athens there were concerns till the last minute but the Olympics went off brilliantly," the Pakistan Olympic Association chief said.
Chaudhary Muhammed Asghar, secretary of the Pakistan Wrestling Federation, saw in the criticism the inability of "Europeans and Australians to accept the fact that India has not only been awarded the Games but that it will also manage to hold them properly".
Continued on page 2
With a thumbs-up, guess who holds India hand: Pak
"They have always had a problem with any organisational success in India or Pakistan. Even in cricket, they had a problem initially. And it is unfortunate that we Asians, on our part, seem to hold their opinion in high esteem," he said. "Inshallah, the Games will be a huge success."
Asghar will arrive on Monday to take charge of the ground situation, including accommodation.
Pakistan hockey's star striker Rehan Butt said that whether it was india or Pakistan, the foreign media had the tendency to blow up negative things and ignore the positives.
"It's not like things are perfect elsewhere. As a international player, I have experienced Games villages at several events and in various countries and I can say that though things are generally ready in advance, it doesn't mean they are all perfectly done or managed," he said.
"For all those cribbing right now about the facilities, they must be asked about the facilities provided at the 2002 Melbourne Games, which were far from satisfactory."
Butt also felt that the West should understand that any country hosting a major event for the first time needed to be encouraged, and not pulled down.
Saying his players were all set to leave for the Games, Pakistan Tennis Federation Secretary Major Rashid Khan pointed out that they had never encountered any problem in India. "We have Aisam-ul-Haq playing in India often, and Aqeel Khan has travelled umpteen times. We have never had a problem. We have full faith in Anil Khanna (All India Tennis Association secretary general) and the Indian government, and there are absolutely no concerns."
Criticising the "superiority complex" of the Europeans, he said they travel all over the world but have complaints only when they come to this part of the world. "Unhe machhar bhi dikhne lagte hain, safai se bhi problem hone lagti hai, khane ki bhi problem ho jati hai, mausam me kharabi milti hai (They start seeing mosquitoes, having problems with the cleanliness, the food, the weather...)."
With a thumbs-up, guess who holds India hand? Pak - Yahoo! India News
Mon, Sep 27 06:02 AM
The Malaysian and Botswanian teams today joined the ranks of those complaining against the state of affairs in the Commonwealth Games Village, while the South African envoy cried "a threat to the lives of athletes" after a snake was found in one of the rooms allotted to the country's sportspersons.
However, there was good news on at least one front for the beleaguered Commonwealth Games officials: Pakistan. Not only have officials from the country given a thumbs-up to the arrangements and security preparedness for the Games, but also accused "Westerners" of being overly critical.
"We have been given complete assurance by the organisers and our security liaison officer is in India at the moment. We trust the Indian government to provide full protection, and we have no security concerns. Hopefully our entire 75-member contingent will be in India on the 29th as planned," Pakistan Olympic Association president Syed Arif Hasan told The Indian Express on Sunday.
In present times, Hasan noted, no country can assure completely incident-free events, except guaranteeing foolproof security. "We have had teams in India before and not had any problems," he said.
While Hasan added that "it would have obviously been better if the infrastructure had been ready in advance", he said he understood that there could be delays. "We have also had floods and a lot of rain, and the country is reeling under its effects. So nature cannot be predicted or controlled. Even in Athens there were concerns till the last minute but the Olympics went off brilliantly," the Pakistan Olympic Association chief said.
Chaudhary Muhammed Asghar, secretary of the Pakistan Wrestling Federation, saw in the criticism the inability of "Europeans and Australians to accept the fact that India has not only been awarded the Games but that it will also manage to hold them properly".
Continued on page 2
With a thumbs-up, guess who holds India hand: Pak
"They have always had a problem with any organisational success in India or Pakistan. Even in cricket, they had a problem initially. And it is unfortunate that we Asians, on our part, seem to hold their opinion in high esteem," he said. "Inshallah, the Games will be a huge success."
Asghar will arrive on Monday to take charge of the ground situation, including accommodation.
Pakistan hockey's star striker Rehan Butt said that whether it was india or Pakistan, the foreign media had the tendency to blow up negative things and ignore the positives.
"It's not like things are perfect elsewhere. As a international player, I have experienced Games villages at several events and in various countries and I can say that though things are generally ready in advance, it doesn't mean they are all perfectly done or managed," he said.
"For all those cribbing right now about the facilities, they must be asked about the facilities provided at the 2002 Melbourne Games, which were far from satisfactory."
Butt also felt that the West should understand that any country hosting a major event for the first time needed to be encouraged, and not pulled down.
Saying his players were all set to leave for the Games, Pakistan Tennis Federation Secretary Major Rashid Khan pointed out that they had never encountered any problem in India. "We have Aisam-ul-Haq playing in India often, and Aqeel Khan has travelled umpteen times. We have never had a problem. We have full faith in Anil Khanna (All India Tennis Association secretary general) and the Indian government, and there are absolutely no concerns."
Criticising the "superiority complex" of the Europeans, he said they travel all over the world but have complaints only when they come to this part of the world. "Unhe machhar bhi dikhne lagte hain, safai se bhi problem hone lagti hai, khane ki bhi problem ho jati hai, mausam me kharabi milti hai (They start seeing mosquitoes, having problems with the cleanliness, the food, the weather...)."
With a thumbs-up, guess who holds India hand? Pak - Yahoo! India News
