Arjuna awardee wrestler wonders why Delhi is hosting CWG

New Delhi: After footballer Bhaichung Bhutia, an Arjuna award winning wrestler Sokhender Tomar today came out against Commonwealth Games in the capital saying that poor people’s money have been plundered for the multi-sporting extravaganza.

Speaking at the launch of a book ‘It is Common v/s Wealth written by activist Kapil Mishra, the CWG 2002 wrestling gold medallist Tomar said he did not understand why Delhi was selected for the Games and if it was for development, the venue should have been some other smaller towns. “I represented India for the past ten years. I carried the Indian flag with pride. But today, I am sad and I feel like crying. Earlier the white men looted us, now the white men in the country are looting our own people. “What did we get? There is price rise everywhere. I am not a politician or from any party. But I feel that this price rise is because the Games is in Delhi,” Tomar, who is injured and had undergone a surgery six months ago, said. He also wondered why Delhi needed the Games. “Is it for development? Then you should have organised it somewhere else. People are laughing away to Swiss Banks,” he said. The grappler said there should be a thorough probe into the “murky” dealings with regard to the Games. “It is not one (OC Chairman Suresh) Kalmadi. We do not know how many Kalmadis are there. We need a probe,” he said. “Poor people’s money has been plundered for the Games,” he said at the function also attended by BJP leader Vijay Goel, veteran journalist Kuldeep Nayyar and Magsaysay awardee Rajinder Singh. Indian football captain Bhutia on Wednesday said that he felt the country would have been better off without hosting the Commonwealth Games given the organisational chaos that has marred the build-up to the October 3 to 14 event. “We should not have taken a decision to host the Games. The infrastructure is not ready. Look at the situation, the grounds are not ready. We should not have bid for the Games,” Bhutia had said. Addressing the function, Goel said that there was no point to oppose the Games now. “The opposition should have been there when we bid for the Games. The issue here is corruption. The Commonwealth Games has become Commonwealth Loot. People say is Corruption Wealth Games,” he said. He also blamed the Congress leadership for selecting Mani Shankar Iyer for the Sports Ministry in UPA-I though his views against the Games were known. “We lost precious time in developing infrastructure because of Aiyer,” he alleged. Aiyer, who was invited, did not attend the function. PTI