India, a country with diverse culture, race, and ethnicity, gained its independence on August 15, 1947, and since then, sports has slowly captured the imagination of its people. Apart from making people understand the importance of health and fitness, sports is often used as a tool for national integration in India, championing the unity in diversity.
In 2017, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, who is set to hoist the t ricolour at Red Fort in Delhi to celebrate the 78th Independence Day, spoke about the value of sports in everyday life of the people. While launching the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports (RFYS) initiative online, PM Modi also remarked that “sports can be a great means of national integration.”
“From sports, we learn sportsman spirit and that acts as a lubricant in our social life. More than winning, sports help you learn to deal with defeats,” he added.
The launch of Khelo India: National Programme for Development of Sports in 2017-18, was done to identify talent, put them in structured sports competition, develop the infrastructure, and revive the popularity of traditional Indian games. The Youth Games, University Games, Winter Games, and Para Games under Khelo India scheme has allowed the Government of India to bring young athletes from all across the nation to one place over the years, to ensure national integration on a broader scale through sports.
During the Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi, the 110-ft-high, 40-inches-wide “Tree of Knowledge” featured in the opening ceremony, highlighting the cultural transformation of India over decades and centuries. It was built by the weavers from Kashmir with the bamboo from Assam, the motif from Kashmir, integrating the different parts of the nation into one, for a great cause.
India is one of the strongest nations in team sports like cricket and hockey, where players from different regions and backgrounds put their differences aside, to play as one. It is one of the best portrayals of the unity in diversity in the Indian context, playing a key role in national integration as well.