What price athletics? Global superpower my ****

[Alf W]

'Beggars Swept Off Delhi Streets For Games'

The eyes of the world are on Delhi as it gears up to host the Commonwealth Games and activists fear poor people are being forced to leave because they send out the wrong image.

Shanty towns across the city have been razed to the ground. Some are deemed too close to venues while others have been demolished to make way for car parks and road improvement schemes.

Shivani Chaudry from the Housing And Land Rights Network said: "Mega events like the Commonwealth Games act as powerful symbols for city's vying for the global tag.

"But to host these events cities require extensive stretches of land in prime locations. Clearing these causes significant displacement of poor communities."

Sri Ram lived with his family in a poor settlement which had stood on the banks of a canal near the Nehhru Stadium for over 35 years.

Then suddenly the bulldozers were ordered in and in just a few hours hundreds of homes were reduced to rubble.

A multi-story car park now stands on the site.

The residents say they were offered no alternative housing or compensation.

Ram, a 46-year-old street vendor, said: "For us the Commonwealth Games mean nothing. They have destroyed our homes and livelihoods.

"The bulldozers came in one day and we had no time to even salvage our belongings. They just attacked us and destroyed everything.

"I will have to rebuild my life. We just want these games to be over so we can carry on with our lives."

[sasguru]

Pointless and ignorant post. India is many countries in one: the prosperous middle class minority, the rural majority, the urban poor.
Being a superpower is nothing to do with the amount of poor people you have, rather it is to do with the size and energy of the middle class; Britain at its Victorian peak had some of the most noisome slums in the world, the US has poverty that would not be tolerated in a European context.

[minestrone]

When I lived in Sydney they chucked all the tramps into vans and shifted them out to holding areas for a month when the Olympics were on.

[Doggy Styles]

When I lived in Sydney they chucked all the tramps into vans and shifted them out to holding areas for a month when the Olympics were on.

The difference in Delhi is that the residents will have nowhere to go back to. They could always squat in the car parks I suppose.

[Pogle]

Not exactly new news is it? This has been known for a while. I personally would feel very uneasy about going over there to compete, knowing what had been done to the locals.

[Xenophon]

Meanwhile in India...

[PRC1964]

Pah, they are amateurs. World Cup 2010: South Africa Gets Ready - Newsweek

When Seoul hosted the 1988 Olympics, an estimated 15 percent of the population was displaced as a result of the capital’s overhaul. And 20 years later, it’s thought that far more than a million residents in Beijing found themselves in the path of a bulldozer in the run-up to the 2008 summer games.

[MarillionFan]

Pointless and ignorant post. India is many countries in one: the prosperous middle class minority, the rural majority, the urban poor.
Being a superpower is nothing to do with the amount of poor people you have, rather it is to do with the size and energy of the middle class; Britain at its Victorian peak had some of the most noisome slums in the world, the US has poverty that would not be tolerated in a European context.

Actually Sas, thats a pretty ignorant comment even for someone as insular as you.

The lack of rights of the poor in the worlds largest Democracy can be deemed the equivalent of slavery. The poor have no right or stability. They are a very visible reminder of the differences between the classes. Regardless of their poverty they struggle on and compared to other shanty towns that exist around the world the threat of violence or robbery against a visitor is greatly diminished. I've spent time with some of the poorest people in the world, shared their food and slept on their floors. I have always been amazed at certain Asian countries, at their hospitality and resourcefullness.

These people have rights. It's a shame that being a 'super power' only relates to wealth.

[thunderlizard]

When I lived in Sydney they chucked all the tramps into vans and shifted them out to holding areas for a month when the Olympics were on.

Similar goings-on in Atlanta '96 too.

[sasguru]

Actually Sas, thats a pretty ignorant comment even for someone as insular as you.

The lack of rights of the poor in the worlds largest Democracy can be deemed the equivalent of slavery. The poor have no right or stability. They are a very visible reminder of the differences between the classes. Regardless of their poverty they struggle on and compared to other shanty towns that exist around the world the threat of violence or robbery against a visitor is greatly diminished. I've spent time with some of the poorest people in the world, shared their food and slept on their floors. I have always been amazed at certain Asian countries, at their hospitality and resourcefullness.

These people have rights. It's a shame that being a 'super power' only relates to wealth.

Insular, moi?
Don't make me laugh, I've travelled all over the world - in my youth with no money. Like you I've lived with the poorest.

You misunderstand my point. Alf W is implying that India cannot be a superpower because of the way it treats its poor. My point is that superpowers have always treated their poor badly (remember the US reponse to Katrina?). I'm not making a moral judgement about that, it's just how it is - and probably how it will always be.