Yesterday I read Aamir Khan’s blog post, justifying why he is carrying the Olympic torch although he has received requests from many people not to do so. Aamir Khan is a prominent film personality and the brand ambassador for Coke in India. He is one of the celebrities invited by Indian Olympic Committee to carry the torch. The captain of India’s football team was also invited, but he declined as a mark of solidarity for the Tibetan cause.
Aamir Khan says that he has the highest regard for the struggle of the people of Tibet. He is running with the torch because he feels that Olympics games do not belong to China. “The Olympic Games represent for me the coming together of different people across the world despite their differences and difficulties.”
What I found most striking, is his grim observations about the state of human rights in the world, be it Kashmir, Palestine or Iraq. He says “ if we were to try and find on this planet a place to hold the Olympic Games where the government of that place has not been responsible for human rights violations (in one way or the other), then I suspect that we would be left with very few options, if any at all.”
It got me thinking. Is it fair to compare the rest of the developed world with China, which is not a free country by any standard? The media does not have the independence to report facts. People of China have no way of knowing the full truth nor do they have the freedom to voice dissent. Even US is guilty of several human right violations. But the fact that a documentary like “No end in sight” can be made and played to audience all over the world goes to show the amount of openness there is to discuss the wrongs of the government?
I recalled my first visit to the US in 1999. A war had broken out between India and Pakistan while I was there. Not a single US channel carried the story. I was so shocked, I asked people why this was so. They told me US media was very internally focused because of which most Americans think that there is no world outside US. I don’t know how far this generalization is true. However, when I visited the country after 9/11, I observed a marked change in the news coverage. There was so much more news about the world in general. It was almost as if there was sudden realization that we are not immune from the rest of the world. We are vulnerable.
Today, however, I wonder if a free press really matters. Does people’s opinion really count to a superpower, even if it is a democracy? We have an unjust war in Iraq, poorly managed and so many lives lost and unspeakable human right violation committed. The majority of the country seems to be against it and the whole world is opposed to it. Yet what is the world doing. We have imposed sanctions on countries like the Zimbabwe and Iraq. Can any country in the world even consider doing it to the US or China.
How can the world influence countries like US and China whom no country can threaten with economic sanctions or military might. Even if every country in the world boycotts the Olympics, it not going to matter to China. They hold what really matters – the purse strings and the bombs. Even if US invades Iran and North Korea, there is nothing the world can do about. It has just led me to the sad conclusion that might is right, after all.
Update 9th April: B Raman has written an open letter to Aamir Khan in response to his blog post. It gives a whole new perspective to the human rights issue that Aamir has pointed to. Definitely worth reading. Thank you Senthil for pointing to the link.
Hello there. I was sent a link to your blog by a friend a while ago. I have been reading a long for a while now. Just wanted to say HI. Thanks for putting in all the hard work.
Jennifer Lancey
Topical post and quite interesting. As Aamir Khan says “ if we were to try and find on this planet a place to hold the Olympic Games where the government of that place has not been responsible for human rights violations (in one way or the other), then I suspect that we would be left with very few options, if any at all”, we got to grudgingly admit it is true. I feel Olympics should not be boycotted.
[...] Books, Science and Stories placed an interesting blog post on Might is RightHere’s a brief overview [...]
[...] Archinect : Schoolblog : All Schools wrote an interesting post today on Might is RightHere’s a quick excerptAamir Khan says that he has the highest regard for the struggle of the people of Tibet. He is running with the torch because he feels that… [...]
[...] Olbermann Watch – MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann wrote an interesting post today on Might is RightHere’s a quick excerptWe have an unjust war in Iraq, poorly managed and so many lives lost and unspeakable human right violation committed. [...]
[...] Snackspot.org.uk: Premier snack reviews portal for the UK wrote an interesting post today on Might is RightHere’s a quick excerptWe have imposed sanctions on countries like the Zimbabwe and Iraq. Can any country in the world even consider doing it to the US or China. [...]
Archana,
Interesting post. The same would be true of India as well. We have the bombs and some money as well now. In my view, trying to damage the olympics which the chinese seem to hold close to their heart will only further alienate China from the world’s opinion on Tibet. We have to figure out a way to engage China to get them to see the Tibetan opinion. This is extremely hard to do. How does one get India to listen to the Kashmiri opinion without hearing complaints about how Pakistan is manipulating the opinion? This is a complex problem without a easy solution.
[...] Games where the government of that place has not been responsible for human r… source: Might is Right, Books, Science and [...]
Archana, so thought provoking that it has made me write a whole post in response! Please do check it out on my blog.
Krishnan – Thank you.
Sukumar – Thank you. However I do not think that India has reached the kind of economic status that it is immune to the influence of the world. Remember we had sactions imposed on us when we tested our Nuclear bomb.
Prem – Thank you very much. I read your post. It was great.
Jennifer Lancey – Thank you very much. Somehow your comments had gotten into spam. I just saw your comment. Thanks once again for taking time to read my blog.
Archana,
All this talk of boycott and actually boycotting does not yield any real results. It only affects the poor athletes who have a once in a 4 year opportunity to compete and earn fame and respect.
Lifespan of most of these athletes are limited anyways and denying them an opportunity to compete would be completely unfair.
Do not boycott the olympics. Instead the International sports authorities and bodies must ensure that such governments cannot even bid for such events. Nip it in the bud.
Ganesh
Might may prevail but it doesn’t necessarily make it right.
I believe that the world needs things like blogging and the Olympics that are independent of political establishment to build understanding and good will among the peoples of all nations. It is the only hope that common people have.
Archana,
Few days back, i read an interesting article in rediff..
“An Open Letter to Aamir Khan
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/apr/03guest.htm
The article was written by B Raman, a strategic analyst.
I think, that article has some interesting points w.r.t to your post.
Particularly, how aamirkhan was wrong in comparing kashmir to tibet..
Aamir Khan has shown his true face in his statement bringing bad name to our country..
Three of my cousins are working in Army, now serving in Leh & Kupwara, in kashmir.. Last pongal, they came on leave, and i had a chance to know various things from them..
Most of the terrorists are from Pakistan killing native kashmiris.. and our army is there to protect those people, not to harass them..
I asked them.. why is there so much news about human rights..
They replied as below.
There are many divisions of army deployed there.. Like Engineer corps, Rashtriya Rifles, Miners etc.
Rashtriya Rifles is the most powerful unit, which has to act immediately when problem arises.. Normally, soldiers from other units are assigned to RR for 2 years, and then released to their parent unit.
The duty of the Rashtriya Rifles unit is to respond to emergency situations, and clear out any terrorists who are holed up in the forests and some homes inside the city.
So, whenever there is any call, these Rashtriya Rifles (RR) person would immediately pick up and move their units.. Some times they have to pass through busy roads, there would be situations like some one crossing, or some vehicle not giving way, inspite of sirening.
At that times, the army will forcibly evacuate the blockades, and move on their way..
It is this incident, which the few vested politicians utilise and protest..
One of my cousin is in RR now, and he told .. “While we are rushing to the spot, we dont know whether the person in front is NOT leaving way deliberately or without noticing his vehicle.. Even a minor lapse/delay would cost the lives of their entire unit.. there are instances where terrorist will delay the army vehicle like this, and trigger the bombs. So, the army has no other option but to clear the blocks (both human and vehicle) forcibly and harshly.”
————————————————————–
So we should not be carried away by media reports..
Some critical aspects of Tibet from india’s security point…
1. Peace in tibet means peace in india’s border.. less deployment of army..
2. China has occupied akshai chin, and parts of arunachal pradesh.. they are now claiming the whole AP and parts of assam… so, an independant tibet will give us a trustable neighbour.
3. Most of the rivers to india originates in Tibet.. Again, friendly independant tibet will secure our national rivers than a rival china which is attempting to divert Brahmaputra waters to their mainland.
4. Above all, Tibetans had been suppressed a lot, with they being refugees in their own land.
Atleast, america is having a democracy, where the acts of Bush can be stopped and if possible reversed..
But, china is very dangerous dragon, and no one knows how it responds..
The current tibet protest is clearly a masterplan with active support from US, UK, France and other european countries.
the recent protests in france and britain are deliberately supported by their government..
Although those western governments are utilising this issue for their own country’s needs, the tibetans also realised that this is the right opportunity to hit another hammer on china..
We cannot be idealistic in international issues.. the only thing we can do is to look after our own country’s interests..
Ganesh – I agree with your view. I don’t think boycotting would help, however the games should not have been awarded to China.
Janet – Thanks Janet. Yes, as long as people are allowed freedom to express their opinion there is hope for rightness to prevail.
Senthil – I will look up the link.
Might “MAY B” the MIGHT for ONLOOKERS, dwellers realises IT IS NOT SO – Time will prove this THEORY again n again – and it proved it b4 in HITLER’s case now its for US turn, when MIGHT not handled with CARE, will lead to FIGHT and crumble of Empire !!
thanks for a nice post( as usual). Many of us respect Aamir Khan for his actiing abilites.
In the present case, he chose to go by his compulsions and beliefs. We may yet see him joining the protestors for Tibet sometime soon if he really feels for the people of Tibet .
The Olympics was thoroughly politicized as early as 1936, and has been used since then for national governments to legitimize themselves and promote their ideology. China is in fine standing in this regard and is making nationalistic hay out of this left, right, and centre. So claiming that one isn’t being a part of the boycott because it’s “for the athletes” is at best somewhat quaint and at worst deliberately disingenuous. However, it’s his right to participate or not, and he is absolutely correct in that the Tibet situation is by no means unique, and arguably isn’t even in the top 25 as far as people being disenfranchised and denied any self-determination goes. Basically there are about 5,000 ethnic groups on the planet and about 300 governments…what a mess.
I would argue that the Tibet Olympic protests are counterproductive. They are making the Chinese more nationalistic, strengthening the government’s hand, and will ultimately do the Tibetans no good or even hurt their cause.
Unless there is another pro-democracy movement in China akin to Tianimen, this is going nowhere fast.
As always, a thoughtful and thought provoking post.
Thank you Doug, Vinod and Jayalakshmi.
Overall the impression I get from the news media is that the Chinese are very happy with the economic prosperity and a protest like Tianimen is not likely anytime soon.
>> Today, however, I wonder if a free press really matters. Does people’s opinion really count to a superpower, even if it is a democracy?
My question is does People’s opinion really count to today’s press….??
vc
I think it is the other way round Vinod. All that matters to the press is what people think and not what it right or true. They pander to the lowest common denominator.