'Khelo Bharat' participants from Jharkhand made to serve tea and snacks during their own felicitation ceremony

In a new low for Indian sports, the Khelo Bharat participants from Jharkhand were forced to serve tea and snacks to guests at their own felicitation ceremony. The youngsters were at the event organized by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and were later garlanded by Minister CP Singh. Not to be confused with Khelo India, Khelo Bharat is a separate sports programme organized by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. Khelo Bharat focused on more traditional sports, such as Kabaddi, Kushti, Tug-of-war, Malkambh, and Kho-Kho. Khelo India, another one of government-sponsored programme concentrated on Olympic-style events. Twenty-seven states participated in the event, which entertained a total of eight thousand eight hundred and thirty-four teams. Forty teams qualified for the Semifinal, which was cut down to twenty for the final. Khelo Bharat was inaugurated on July 6, last year, and the events took place across twenty-seven states.

The finals are finally set to take place on July 24-25 of this month. However, if the treatment received by Jharkhand's Khelo Bharat participants is anything to go by, youngsters would rather not participate in future events at all. Shocking footage emerged of the ceremony showing several youngsters serving the 'special guests' tea and snacks. The whole incident took place in the Bhartiya Janta Party State office, where members of both BJP and ABVP were present. Minister CP Singh later garlanded the players, before the sixty-five member squad left for Delhi. https://twitter.com/latpot10/status/1021413483592626178 Similar instances have taken place before as well.

Recently, Commonwealth Games medalist Manu Bhaker had to sit on the ground at her own felicitation ceremony, as she gave up her seat for the minister. However, the shooter later said that her decision was 'out of respect' more than anything else. Nonetheless, the treatment of these athletes is simply shocking. Even more so, because the programme was organized for them as they had qualified for the finals. The finals of this year-long programme are set to take place this month at the Talkatora Stadium in Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah, along with several known Indian sporting superstars, such as Mary Kom, Phogat sisters, Sushil Kumar, and Vijender Singh are expected to be present for the finals. Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore will be in the attendance as well. Hopefully, after the tournament is over, rightful actions can be taken to ensure such things do not happen again.

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Also read: “I was not humiliated”, clarifies Manu Bhaker