Disgraceful!

The brutal trolling of Arshdeep Singh was a disgraceful and condemnable act. It embodied the insensitivity of a section of our society towards a 24-year-old Indian youth who, through his hard work, perseverance and determination, has made himself worthy enough to represent the hopes and aspirations of a great country like India. Not long ago, trolling of Md Shami made us go through this shame, and now, we tasted this bitterness once again. It is horrifying to imagine the negative pressure on the young man who must now be forced to prove his sincerity alongside the paramount task of playing for his country. The positive thing has been that concerned governments and the entire sports fraternity promptly came in support of the Indian pacer, undoing a part of the damage. The incident, however, should leave us perturbed on certain questions around the dangers of open Internet, glimmers of radicalisation in society and the overshadowing of sporting spirit by other factors. One crucial thing that came to the forefront in the entire episode was the vandalisation of the Wikipedia page featuring the young pacer. The Central government rightly considered summoning Wikipedia executives. The vandalised page erroneously linked Arshdeep with the Khalistan movement. It might be a folly to let go of this incident as a passing fad. Involvement of vested interests cannot be ruled out. The vandalization of the page was clearly deliberate, and was done by people keenly hunting for such opportunities. The website admitted the case, saying "vandalism does occur on Wikipedia from time to time, as can occur in any open, online platform. It is a violation of the trust and good faith of our editors and readers, and runs contrary to the values on which Wikipedia is based." It also added that vandalism is reverted in a few minutes by dedicated bots. The Arshdeep incident has shown what deal of damage can be inflicted in a few minutes. Furthermore, a freelance journalist, Saikiran Kannan, flagged that Khalistan-related hashtags were most likely initiated by handles based out of the United States and Pakistan. While these claims are not yet confirmed, they deserve a thorough inspection. This is not meant to ease off the blame from the shoulders of insensitive miscreants based in India. But designed conspiracy by overseas players is also a possibility that should not be taken lightly. The Indian government needs to hold serious deliberations with Wikipedia and other intermediaries to ensure such incidents are averted. The second issue of concern is the heightened communal sentiment in the country. It is bizarre how dropping of a catch by a young cricketer can make people relate him to Khalistan! This reflects how deeply communalism has been ingrained in the minds of a section of society. Merely because he belongs to a particular regionality was enough ingredient for miscreants to cook misinformation. This is not the India its makers had envisaged. The very symbols of the identity of people — their turban, their cap, their dhoti, their beard etc. — being turned as weapons against them is indeed horrifying. Another factor that should worry us deeply is the declining sporting spirit in India. The fact that India still holds significant soft power across the globe, can be attributed to its rich culture, including that of sports. Sport embodies the spirit of fighting collectively. It cannot be allowed to turn into a pivot for unsolicited arrogance and pride. Sports, in itself, is a teaching that not just victories and losses, but also excellence and shortcomings should be accepted with grace. Any attempt to even partially justify the actions of trollers as reaction of sports lovers will be an injustice to the entire sporting fraternity. Obsession with sports and obsession with arrogance are two separate things. It was quite shameful for the real sport lovers that Arshdeep's mother had to come out in his defence saying his son has promised to answer people's question with his performance. Let's make sure that we demand no answers from Arshdeep. There is no need for even an ounce of proof for his sincerity and skills. As our sportspersons are consistently making us proud at global stages, we also need to allow them enough space to fail, make mistakes, learn, improve and succeed at their own pace. Our youngsters have earned a name for themselves and the country. They need not provide any justification, either in words or action. Let them play just for excellence.