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By:

Bhalchandra Chorghade

11 August 2025 at 1:54:18 pm

Applause for Cricket, Silence for Badminton

Mumbai: When Lakshya Sen walked off the court after the final of the All England Badminton Championships, he carried with him the disappointment of another near miss. The Indian shuttler went down in straight games to Lin Chun-Yi, who created history by becoming the first player from Chinese Taipei to lift the prestigious title. But the story of Lakshya Sen’s defeat is not merely about badminton final. It is also about the contrasting way India celebrates its sporting heroes. Had the same...

Applause for Cricket, Silence for Badminton

Mumbai: When Lakshya Sen walked off the court after the final of the All England Badminton Championships, he carried with him the disappointment of another near miss. The Indian shuttler went down in straight games to Lin Chun-Yi, who created history by becoming the first player from Chinese Taipei to lift the prestigious title. But the story of Lakshya Sen’s defeat is not merely about badminton final. It is also about the contrasting way India celebrates its sporting heroes. Had the same narrative unfolded on a cricket field, the reaction would have been dramatically different. In cricket, even defeat often becomes a story of heroism. A hard-fought loss by the Indian team can dominate television debates, fill newspaper columns and trend across social media for days. A player who narrowly misses a milestone is still hailed for his fighting spirit. The nation rallies around its cricketers not only in victory but also in defeat. The narrative quickly shifts from the result to the effort -- the resilience shown, the fight put up, the promise of future triumph. This emotional investment is one of the reasons cricket enjoys unparalleled popularity in India. It has built a culture where players become household names and their performances, good or bad, become part of the national conversation. Badminton Fights Contrast that with what happens in sports like badminton. Reaching the final of the All England Championships is a monumental achievement. The tournament is widely considered badminton’s equivalent of Wimbledon in prestige and tradition. Only the very best players manage to reach its final stages, and doing it twice speaks volumes about Lakshya Sen’s ability and consistency. Yet the reaction in India remained largely subdued. There were congratulatory posts, some headlines acknowledging the effort and brief discussions among badminton enthusiasts. But the level of national engagement never quite matched the magnitude of the achievement. In a cricketing context, reaching such a stage would have triggered days of celebration and analysis. In badminton, it often becomes just another sports update. Long Wait India’s wait for an All England champion continues. The last Indian to win the title was Pullela Gopichand in 2001. Before him, Prakash Padukone had scripted history in 1980. These victories remain among the most significant milestones in Indian badminton. And yet, unlike cricketing triumphs that are frequently revisited and celebrated, such achievements rarely stay in the mainstream sporting conversation for long. Lakshya Sen’s journey to the final should ideally have been viewed as a continuation of that legacy, a reminder that India still possesses the talent to challenge the world’s best in badminton. Instead, it risks fading quickly from public memory. Visibility Gap The difference ultimately comes down to visibility and cultural investment. Cricket in India is not merely a sport; it is an ecosystem built over decades through media attention, sponsorship, and mass emotional attachment. Individual sports, on the other hand, often rely on momentary bursts of recognition, usually during Olympic years or when a medal is won. But consistent performers like Lakshya Sen rarely receive the sustained spotlight that their achievements deserve. This disparity can also influence the next generation. Young athletes are naturally drawn to sports where success brings recognition, financial stability and national fame. When one sport monopolises the spotlight, others struggle to build similar appeal. Beyond Result Lakshya Sen may have finished runner-up again, but his performance at the All England Championship is a reminder that India continues to produce world-class athletes in disciplines beyond cricket. The real issue is not that cricket receives immense attention -- it deserves the admiration it gets. The concern is that athletes from other sports often do not receive comparable appreciation for achievements that are equally significant in their own arenas. If India aspires to become a truly global sporting nation, its applause must grow broader. Sporting pride cannot remain confined to one field. Because somewhere on a badminton court, an athlete like Lakshya Sen is fighting just as hard for the country’s colours as any cricketer on a packed stadium pitch. The only difference is how loudly the nation chooses to cheer.

A Truce Vs Durable Peace

Updated: Oct 21, 2024

A Truce Vs Durable Peace

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his address to the UN General Assembly on Friday, displayed two maps; one was titled “The Blessing,” and the other “The Curse!” “The Blessing” did not identify the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but showed all the territory as one nation, Israel! He announced the continuation of military actions in Lebanon and said “I’ve come here today to say enough is enough. We won’t rest until our citizens can return safely to their homes.”

It’s been a year since Hamas’s October 7 unprecedented attack, more than 1500 Israelis have been killed and hundreds abducted into deep dark tunnels of Gaza. Hezbollah, a Shia militia of Lebanon is targeting the north of Israel whereas the southern parts of the country are attacked by Houthis, the Yemeni Shia rebels. Houthis have also been attacking commercial vessels near Israel’s shoreline, disrupting the global maritime trade. The Iraqi Shia militants targeted Israel’s strongest ally, the United States by launching rockets at bases hosting US troops in Iraq, Syria and Jordan! Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis have relentlessly launched over 11000 missiles and mortar shells into Israel, displacing over 100,000 Israelis in the past year. Iran’s ‘Operation True Promise’ alone targeted Israel’s Golan plateau with over 300 missiles and drones fired in a single night of April 2024! Iran with its proxies has adopted a horizontal escalation strategy to wipe off Israel.

For the past half-century, Israel has been only retaliating and has not subdued the enemy with full-scale war. The world’s best military weapons have been targeting only the positions exposed due to the firing from enemy’s lines, rather than demolishing the sites pinpointed by years of deep research.

In Sep 2024, when thousands of pagers and other communication devices exploded in the hands of sworn enemies, the world marvelled at the Israeli intelligence and capabilities. Once again, it is proved that Israel is bending over backwards to conduct precise-targeted killings and destroy the command structure of the enemy force. As these proxies remain deeply embedded within the civilian population and are using civilians as human shields, Israel is using such sophisticated precision targeting to ensure minimal damage.

However, these target actions by Israel have been criticised by experts as killing the leader does not destroy the entire militia; the destruction of critical infrastructure does not eliminate all the risks. These slim victories do not ensure long-term security; rather, such actions help the enemy to win grassroots support. This targeted retaliatory policy of Israel has led to enemy aggressions from all sides. “A crushing response from the Axis of Resistance” is what was promised by Iran’s Commander Hossein Salami to Hezbollah Chief. Israel’s actions are also condemned for putting many noncombatants at risk. But this ‘moral radar’ malfunctions when hundreds of Hamas-Hezbollah missiles race towards Israel with a genocidal intent.

When Israel finally took up arms against Hezbollah’s infrastructure in Lebanon for conclusive victory, a sudden call for a ceasefire echoed in the UN assembly. The UN has turned a blind eye to the sufferings of Israelis and Israeli settlers for a long time. In September this year, the UN assembly passed a resolution demanding Israel to end its “unlawful presence” and remove its settlements from Palestinian territory within the next 12 months. Issuance of such directives and condemnation by the UN are not new to Israel. In the 90’s when Israel relinquished control over parts of Gaza, the Palestinian faction attacked and killed one thousand Israelis.

Hezbollah started The Second Lebanon War when Israel withdrew from Lebanon in the past. In 2005, Israel withdrew completely from Gaza, and since then, the Israelis have endured war atrocities. Israel’s “Iron Lady” Golda Meir once said “Give up this and give up the other place. Give up the Golan Heights. What happened when we were not on the Golan Heights? We were not on the Golan Heights before ’67, and for 19 years, Syria had guns up there and shot at our agricultural settlements below. So what, if we give up the Golan Heights, they will stop shooting? They say we must be dead. And we say we want to be alive. Between life and death, I don’t know of a compromise. And that’s why we have no choice.”

Can peace be decreed only upon one nation that is constantly targeted by neighbours, when her neighbours refuse to accept her very existence right from the day of her formation; when geopolitical conflicts are fuelled by third parties to earn enormous defence export profits? Isn’t peace a shared responsibility?

The UN directives and peace accords could not safeguard Israelis from unprovoked attacks. The Iran-proxies have not retreated from Israeli borders. On the contrary, they built secret tunnels, procured the lethal arsenal and mapped ‘The Conquest of the Galilee Plan’ as fighting Jewish land is the only reason why they exist! Peace cannot be decreed solely through truce and treaties! A truce without considering its potential impact does not resolve the conflict. An accord without justice fails to restore durable peace!

(The writer is a foreign affairs expert. Views personal.)

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