By Ravi Kant Singh, IANS
Hyderabad : Organisers of the 4th Military World Games had announced with great fanfare that entry to the competition venues would be free of any encumbrances. But a casual look around the venues makes one realise that the games are of the military, for the military and by the military.
Try getting into a stadium without an accreditation badge and it becomes a task tougher than the military pentathlon competition. Only those belonging to the armed forces are welcome to the stadium — in fact, so welcome that some have been specially brought from faraway places.
More than 200 cadets from the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla, stand out in the crowd smartly attired in sky blue shirts and academy ties.
Hundreds of men in dark trousers, spotless white shirts and sky-blue turbans from the Sikh Light Infantry are equally conspicuous. They are taken around venues in buses and occupy the stands. The same goes for the men in uniform who have been summoned from in and around the twin cities to fill the empty seats at the stadiums.
The original plan of restricting entry to the venues through “free passes” available at 13 branches of Canara Bank misfired badly as there were hardly any takers. The organisers then announced that entry would be open to the public but stringent security checks make the ordinary sports fan feel unwelcome.
Body searches, bags put through X-ray scanners, doorframe metal detectors are not really the most inviting sights. Combine that with travel woes for even accredited persons who must park their vehicles more than a kilometre from the venue and then ride the shuttle bus or walk if they wish.
However, officers of the rank of brigadiers and above can drive right up to the stadium entrance.
Entrances are clearly marked for the entry of armed forces personnel and civilians – and at the Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) centre, a nine-feet-high barbed wire fence surrounds the civilian seats.
An officer at the AOC centre said: “We had to take these special measures after the Mecca Masjid blasts and the other bomb explosions here in Hyderabad.
The participating countries evidently have a lot of confidence in the Indian armed forces. None withdrew after the terror attacks.
“We have tried to keep the games safe — security is the topmost priority. That’s why the personnel manning the gates and regulating entry are all from the army but in civilian dress. It makes them stand out less,” said the AOC centre officer.
Even the Andhra Pradesh Police have been relegated to outer periphery duties and regulating traffic quite a distance from each stadium complex. Within a radius of half a kilometre, it’s the army once again, inspecting vehicles with mirrors and checking bags and books before giving the go-ahead.