Black day for Indian Boxing !

Dear friends,As a journalist myself, I wanted to place certain facts before you, which is plaguing Indian sports, in this case boxing, a sport which is likely to bring us maximum accolades in the international arena, if talent alone is given its due recognition.This incident happened in the Federation Cup, the second most important domestic championship, which counts for selections to the Indian camp and subsequently to the Indian team, presently being held at Jangaon, Andhra Pradesh, from April 24 to April 28.

In the quarter finals held yesterday, in the 81 kg weight category, Satender (boxer from Haryana, presently working in South Central railways, Hyderabad), was battling it out with Raju (playing for Andhra Pradesh), son of Mr. Bal Raj, one of the organising secretaries of the tournament and joint secretary of the AP state boxing association. Certainly not well known for his boxing skills, it seemed like a one-sided affair in favour of Satender, who is a youth Commonwealth games silver medallist, besides having won other national/international tournments . But to everybody’s dismay despite strong punches, Satender was not given any points in the first round. In the second round too, Satender reigned blows on his opponent, but just when it seemed like an obvious knockout, the lights were switched off. When the lights were turned on, end of round two was signalled, just two minutes in the game. In the third round, Satender went in for a knockout again and Raju managed to land a punch finally, which prompted Mr. Bal Raju himself to jump up and press the buzzer signalling the end of the round, less than one minute in the game, when the rounds are supposed to last three minutes, according to the present international rules, much to the shock of those present even the jury members, some of whom are in charge of selecting the Indian team members.Though the entire railway team has signed a protest letter, how much will come out of it is anybody’s guess. Since Mr. Bal Raj had already announced it before the start of the bout, in front of the jury members that he had organised the tournament for his son’s benefit and that he had already spent Rs 10 lakhs on it and wil secure his win at any cost. Mr. Bal Raj is also have said to have taken the extreme step to secure a job for his son in the railways.I have been a strong supporter of boxing in the last few months, and though lack a permanent platform to air my views, I do feel for boxers like Satender who come from poor, rural backgrounds and rise on the strength of raw talent alone, with neither proper training, nor strong god fathers.Besides incidents like this, which is nothing but a show of brute strength (those who chose to protest after yesterday’s bout were threatened to be killed) and money power alone is a poor reflection on these sporting events and sounds the death knell for talented boxers.I hope you will take up this issue and give it maximum publicity in the interest of the abundant sporting talent in this country.

Thank-you,Vijaylakshmi Nadar,Independent journalist and film maker,formerly with The Pioneer, Indian Express, Afternoon Despatch and Courier, the Daily, Free Press group, also contributed to The Week, Herald Citizen (USA).