The second Indo-Bangladesh Bangla games
Sunday, 23 March 2008
Md. Mahfuzur Rahman Siddique
THE second Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games concluded on February 26 in Dhaka opening a new avenue for furthering the ties between Bangladesh and 'Bharat' (India). It further cemented the ties between the Bangladeshis and the people of Indian state of West Bengal, who share a common cultural heritage.
That games and sports play a significant role in revitalising friendly relationship is illustrated by a few examples. The swimming talent of the late Brojen Das of Dhaka was spotted by the famous swimmer and trainer of Calcutta, Mr. P. K. Ghosh. During a trip to Dhaka before 1947, Mr. Ghosh had organised a swimming competition for the school children in a pond near Lalkuthi. Brojen became the champion.
On Mr. Ghosh's advice Brojen's parents sent him to Kolkata for training in swimming. Young Borjen took extensive training in swimming from trainer Mr. Ghosh at the Hedua Club, of which he was a founder. Within a couple of years Brojen emerged the first Asian Swimmer to cross the English Channel more than once. He did it in record time. It brought worldwide fame for him and Bangladesh. His source of inspiration to cross the English Channel was a swimmer of Calcutta, Mr. Mihir Sen, who could not cross the English channel despite several attempts.
In 1911, the Mohunbagan Club of Calcutta won the Indian Football Association (IFA) shield for the first time defeating the English booters. As many as seven footballers of the Mohunbagan team were from the area that now constitutes Bangladesh. A great footballer, Ghosta Pal, born in Faridpur of Bangladesh, once became a household name in West Bengal. The East Bengal Club of Calcutta was established by people from the then East Bengal, now Bangladesh. This club contributed to the development of football not only in East Bengal but all over the subcontinent.
Similarly, great football wizard Samad, known as 'jadukar' (magician) Samad, could keep the English football fans spell bound. He is still famous across the subcontinent. He was an employee of the Indian Railway before 1947. And destiny determined his final resting place in the railway township of Parbatipur in Bangladesh.
After the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent and sovereign state in 1971, the bond of friendship between the two countries, based on sports, got a new boost. Games and sports are increasingly bringing the peoples of Bangladesh and West Bengal closer to each other.
West Bengal footballers Sabbir Ali, Gautum Sarker, Sri Prakash and Vaskar Ganguly charmed the football fans of Bangladesh at different times in the Dhaka Football League.
On the other hand, Monem Munna and Golam Gaus of Bangladesh played in Calcutta Football League. Arup Dutta of West Bengal made Dhaka Table Tennis League attractive to the spectators. The rise of cricket in the late 1990s further cemented this relationship between the two neighbours. West Bengal cricketers Praveen Amre, Arun Lal, Utpal Chateerje, and Ashok Malhotra did a lot to popularise Dhaka Cricket League. One of the most successful skippers of Indian cricket team, and among the best players in the cricketing world, the 'Prince of Calcutta' as Saurav Ganguly is fondly called played for Abahani Krira Chakra in the Dhaka Cricket League. The success of the 'Prince' resounds in every corner of Bangladesh as in India. He is an idol to budding cricketers of Bangladesh. The tragic death of Indian cricketer Raman Lamba from a head injury that he had sustained while playing for the Aabahani Krira Chakra in the Dhaka League in 1998 will continue to remain a sad memory to the cricketers and spectators in Bangladesh.
This newly introduced Games between Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal added a new dimension to the warm relationship between the two countries. The Secretary General of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and a sports organiser of international repute, Raja Ranadhir Singh of India first conceived of the Games. At a recent session of the OCA, he proposed to the incumbent Secretary General of Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA), Mr. Kutubuddin Ahmed, to organise the games. In his proposal Mr. Singh had suggested that the games could follow the format of the Punjab Games between India and Pakistan.
In 2004, the first Punjab Games was held in Patiala, an apex sports training center in India. The Indian Olympic Association and the Olympic Association of the Punjab, a province of Pakistan organised it.
The BOA approved a proposal mooted by Mr. Kutubuddin Ahmed, a national awardee organiser. The government of Bangladesh okayed it. As a result, in 2007, the first Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games were staged in Kolkata. Out of the disciplines included, athletics, football under 19, shooting and swimming are meant for both men and women. Kabadi, kho kho, basketball and volleyball events are for men only.
In the second Games held in 2008 in Dhaka, the number of disciplines rose to nine with the inclusion of cricket, now the most popular and widely played game in India and Bangladesh.
The multi-dimensional disciplines were chosen, in chronological order, out of the events in international, regional and local competitions and games. Athletics (sprint) was chosen as the oldest competitive sporting discipline of human race dating back to the ancient Olympic Games. The second criterion was, events of age-old playing tradition, played in the modern Olympic Games, conceived and first organised in Athens in 1896 by the French aristocrat, humanist, idealist and academician Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founding father of the Olympic Movement and the IOC, and also the exponent of Olympism. These are basketball, football, shooting, swimming and volleyball.
In the second edition of the Games, a recent version of cricket under 19, Twenty Twenty was introduced. Though it does not feature in the Olympic Games it was cholsen because of its popularity in the subcontinent, with a century-old playing tradition. 'Kabadi', a non-Olympic but Asiad event was included. It is the classical version of 'haa doo doo', a popular indigenous game of Bangladesh. 'Kabadi' has been introduced with revised playing tactics, rules and bye-laws. Just after the independence of Bangladesh, 'kabadi' was chosen as the national game of the country. The first Asian Championship of this simple and inexpensive game was held in 1980. It was introduced in the Asiad in 1990. Another discipline 'kho kho' is again a very simple and inexpensive game. It is a 20th century game of the Indian state of Maharastra. This event was brought under organisational umbrella in India in the 1950s. This game was introduced in Bangladesh very recently.
The BOA formed a separate Committee on Sports & Environment for the Games. The committee recruited 27 volunteers from National Federations and deployed them in the Games venues and villages to create awareness on 'the importance of environment in sports' among the participating athletes as well as the organisers.
The Indian contingent had an ample opportunity to witness the observance of the historic Ekushey (February 21), the day remembered for the Language Movement of 1952. They paid homage to the Ekushey martyrs and placed wreaths at the Central Shahid Minar, commemorating them.
An impressive hosting of the Games and the performance of the athletes of Bangladesh became a source of joy to the people. Bangladesh athletes had an impressive edge over the guests in all the team events. Bangladesh bagged a total of 92 medals including 45 gold, 29 silver and 18 bronze, while the visitors got a total of 91 medals including 24 gold, 40 silver and 27 bronze.
THE second Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games concluded on February 26 in Dhaka opening a new avenue for furthering the ties between Bangladesh and 'Bharat' (India). It further cemented the ties between the Bangladeshis and the people of Indian state of West Bengal, who share a common cultural heritage.
That games and sports play a significant role in revitalising friendly relationship is illustrated by a few examples. The swimming talent of the late Brojen Das of Dhaka was spotted by the famous swimmer and trainer of Calcutta, Mr. P. K. Ghosh. During a trip to Dhaka before 1947, Mr. Ghosh had organised a swimming competition for the school children in a pond near Lalkuthi. Brojen became the champion.
On Mr. Ghosh's advice Brojen's parents sent him to Kolkata for training in swimming. Young Borjen took extensive training in swimming from trainer Mr. Ghosh at the Hedua Club, of which he was a founder. Within a couple of years Brojen emerged the first Asian Swimmer to cross the English Channel more than once. He did it in record time. It brought worldwide fame for him and Bangladesh. His source of inspiration to cross the English Channel was a swimmer of Calcutta, Mr. Mihir Sen, who could not cross the English channel despite several attempts.
In 1911, the Mohunbagan Club of Calcutta won the Indian Football Association (IFA) shield for the first time defeating the English booters. As many as seven footballers of the Mohunbagan team were from the area that now constitutes Bangladesh. A great footballer, Ghosta Pal, born in Faridpur of Bangladesh, once became a household name in West Bengal. The East Bengal Club of Calcutta was established by people from the then East Bengal, now Bangladesh. This club contributed to the development of football not only in East Bengal but all over the subcontinent.
Similarly, great football wizard Samad, known as 'jadukar' (magician) Samad, could keep the English football fans spell bound. He is still famous across the subcontinent. He was an employee of the Indian Railway before 1947. And destiny determined his final resting place in the railway township of Parbatipur in Bangladesh.
After the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent and sovereign state in 1971, the bond of friendship between the two countries, based on sports, got a new boost. Games and sports are increasingly bringing the peoples of Bangladesh and West Bengal closer to each other.
West Bengal footballers Sabbir Ali, Gautum Sarker, Sri Prakash and Vaskar Ganguly charmed the football fans of Bangladesh at different times in the Dhaka Football League.
On the other hand, Monem Munna and Golam Gaus of Bangladesh played in Calcutta Football League. Arup Dutta of West Bengal made Dhaka Table Tennis League attractive to the spectators. The rise of cricket in the late 1990s further cemented this relationship between the two neighbours. West Bengal cricketers Praveen Amre, Arun Lal, Utpal Chateerje, and Ashok Malhotra did a lot to popularise Dhaka Cricket League. One of the most successful skippers of Indian cricket team, and among the best players in the cricketing world, the 'Prince of Calcutta' as Saurav Ganguly is fondly called played for Abahani Krira Chakra in the Dhaka Cricket League. The success of the 'Prince' resounds in every corner of Bangladesh as in India. He is an idol to budding cricketers of Bangladesh. The tragic death of Indian cricketer Raman Lamba from a head injury that he had sustained while playing for the Aabahani Krira Chakra in the Dhaka League in 1998 will continue to remain a sad memory to the cricketers and spectators in Bangladesh.
This newly introduced Games between Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal added a new dimension to the warm relationship between the two countries. The Secretary General of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and a sports organiser of international repute, Raja Ranadhir Singh of India first conceived of the Games. At a recent session of the OCA, he proposed to the incumbent Secretary General of Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA), Mr. Kutubuddin Ahmed, to organise the games. In his proposal Mr. Singh had suggested that the games could follow the format of the Punjab Games between India and Pakistan.
In 2004, the first Punjab Games was held in Patiala, an apex sports training center in India. The Indian Olympic Association and the Olympic Association of the Punjab, a province of Pakistan organised it.
The BOA approved a proposal mooted by Mr. Kutubuddin Ahmed, a national awardee organiser. The government of Bangladesh okayed it. As a result, in 2007, the first Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games were staged in Kolkata. Out of the disciplines included, athletics, football under 19, shooting and swimming are meant for both men and women. Kabadi, kho kho, basketball and volleyball events are for men only.
In the second Games held in 2008 in Dhaka, the number of disciplines rose to nine with the inclusion of cricket, now the most popular and widely played game in India and Bangladesh.
The multi-dimensional disciplines were chosen, in chronological order, out of the events in international, regional and local competitions and games. Athletics (sprint) was chosen as the oldest competitive sporting discipline of human race dating back to the ancient Olympic Games. The second criterion was, events of age-old playing tradition, played in the modern Olympic Games, conceived and first organised in Athens in 1896 by the French aristocrat, humanist, idealist and academician Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founding father of the Olympic Movement and the IOC, and also the exponent of Olympism. These are basketball, football, shooting, swimming and volleyball.
In the second edition of the Games, a recent version of cricket under 19, Twenty Twenty was introduced. Though it does not feature in the Olympic Games it was cholsen because of its popularity in the subcontinent, with a century-old playing tradition. 'Kabadi', a non-Olympic but Asiad event was included. It is the classical version of 'haa doo doo', a popular indigenous game of Bangladesh. 'Kabadi' has been introduced with revised playing tactics, rules and bye-laws. Just after the independence of Bangladesh, 'kabadi' was chosen as the national game of the country. The first Asian Championship of this simple and inexpensive game was held in 1980. It was introduced in the Asiad in 1990. Another discipline 'kho kho' is again a very simple and inexpensive game. It is a 20th century game of the Indian state of Maharastra. This event was brought under organisational umbrella in India in the 1950s. This game was introduced in Bangladesh very recently.
The BOA formed a separate Committee on Sports & Environment for the Games. The committee recruited 27 volunteers from National Federations and deployed them in the Games venues and villages to create awareness on 'the importance of environment in sports' among the participating athletes as well as the organisers.
The Indian contingent had an ample opportunity to witness the observance of the historic Ekushey (February 21), the day remembered for the Language Movement of 1952. They paid homage to the Ekushey martyrs and placed wreaths at the Central Shahid Minar, commemorating them.
An impressive hosting of the Games and the performance of the athletes of Bangladesh became a source of joy to the people. Bangladesh athletes had an impressive edge over the guests in all the team events. Bangladesh bagged a total of 92 medals including 45 gold, 29 silver and 18 bronze, while the visitors got a total of 91 medals including 24 gold, 40 silver and 27 bronze.