Commonwealth Games Wankery

June 30, 2010

On the NDTV website, a report about a rape in Delhi contains this line:

However, with the commonwealth games in a few months, this incident again raises the question of safety of women in the Capital.

(NDTV)

It is bad enough when the Delhi government makes statements about getting infrastructure ready and giving police soft skills training in time for the Commonwealth Games, as if decent airports, public transport, clean sidewalks and polite policemen are something that comes with an international sports event and that Delhiites don’t have a right to in the normal course of things.

It is even worse when the news media suggests that basic personal security is something which assumes importance in the context of said sports event, and that it doesn’t matter at any other time.