Whatever happened to good old fashioned...

... protesting? Right to freedom and expression?

Bhaichung Bhutia has refused to carry the Olympic torch in protest over China's handling over the recent events in Tibet. The minute he announced this people from left, right and centre have started criticising or belittling his decision. What is with our establishment that we are hell bent on keeping everyone else happy (Chinese, US) but not caring about the rights of our own citizens?

Bhaichung feels that carrying the torch would send a wrong signal or he feels that since he is a Buddhist he must take a stand in the case of Tibet he must take a stand. Whatever. That is his right.

Its strange that we are OK with people who are carrying the torch - Leander (I am proud to be an Indian) Paes and PT (politics and sports should be seperate) Usha, but we do not praise someone like Bhaichung. In any case there have been times when we have refused to play countries due to political disagreements.

PS Does someone up there love Aamir Khan? He keeps making these politically naive statements and then ties himself into knots. But the media never takes him to task. Every time he opens his mouth they wait as if pearls of wisdom are going to fall again.

This time he is carrying the torch not for China but with a prayer for the Tibetans. On his blog he defends himself by saying :

In fact 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. If I am not mistaken almost all societies have been responsible for human rights violation either directly or indirectly, sometimes in seen ways and sometimes in unseen ways, sometimes physically, sometimes economically.

Wow! What?????????????????

Its funny that the more educated we are, we can defend even the silliest of behaviours because we have mastered the language and argue better...

I think I will buy a ticket to Beijing and get away from it all.