Two years after India achieved
freedom, it proclaimed itself to be a Republic, thereby underlining the
necessity of defining a new relationship with its erstwhile ruler, Great
Britain. As per the London Declaration issued in 1949, free India decided
to maintain its ties with their white masters by entering the Commonwealth of
nations association.
“The Government of India
have … declared and affirmed India’s desire to continue her full membership of
the Commonwealth of Nations and her acceptance of the King as the symbol of the
free association of its independent member nations and as such the Head of the
Commonwealth.”
Unlike most other colonial powers
of the world, Britain had a unique style of imperial control, that allowed
significant self-government to its colonies. Post-independence, they saw it as a necessity to maintain cordial
relations with their subjects. A most significant product of this need was the
creation of the Commonwealth of nations, a free association of sovereign
states that were previously under British rule and now saw the British Crown as
its symbolic head.
The purpose of the Commonwealth
was two-fold. On one hand, the independent nations considered the association beneficial in maintaining better political
relations with a large number of countries. “We join the Commonwealth
obviously because we think it is beneficial to us and to certain causes in the
world that we wish to advance,” declared Nehru at the Constituent Assembly on
May 16, 1949. On the other hand, it maintained
Britain’s symbolic authority over its former colonies, while at the same time
acknowledging their free status.
At present, the 53 member states of the Commonwealth of nations
maintain links with each other through education, sports, culture, and
literature. Perhaps one of the most significant demonstrations of the ties
among the nations is the multi-sport
event, Commonwealth Games, that is held once every four years. On
Wednesday, as the 2018 Commonwealth
Games is inaugurated at Gold Coast, Australia,
we reflect upon the unique history and politics of this international sports
event.
History of Commonwealth Games
The idea of an imperial sporting
event dates back to 1891 when the clergyman John Astley Cooper suggested a
“Pan-Britannic-Pan-Anglican Contest and Festival every four years as a means of
increasing goodwill and a good understanding of the British Empire.” Though his
suggestion did not bear fruits immediately, in 1911 the Festival of Empire was
held at Crystal Palace in London to celebrate the coronation of George V.
Australasia (a combination of Australia and New Zealand), Canada, South Africa,
and the United Kingdom took part in five athletic events.
But the official forerunner to the current Commonwealth Games was the British
Empire Games held in 1930 in Ontario, Canada. The Empire Games were replete
with imperial rhetoric. Canadian daily, The Hamilton Spectator set out with
much pride an editorial note stating. “From the outposts of the Empire on which
the sun never sets have come the flower of the nation’s young manhood and
womanhood, the fleetest and sturdiest of her sons and daughters.” South African
newspaper, The Johannesburg Star described the games as a ‘successful family
gathering.’
In the ensuing years, the games
have undergone significant changes. While 11 nations had contested in the games
in 1930, the number has grown steadily over the years and at present, there are over 70 nations participating in the games, a few
of which were not even part of the British Empire. The nomenclature of the
games has also undergone changes depending on the political status of Britain’s
relationship with her colonies. The British Empire Games of 1930 turned into
British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954. In 1970, the name was changed to
British Commonwealth Games while in
1978, the name Commonwealth Games was coined which continues to be in use
to date. In the last 88 years, the games
have been held every four years, with the exception of 1942 and 1946, when the
games were canceled due to the Second World War.
Politics of Commonwealth Games
A unique characteristic of
British domination over her former colonies is the fact that she never used
military power to maintain control. Rather it was what has been termed as
‘cultural power.’ In other words, a set of ideas, beliefs, rules, and
conventions were carried throughout the empire by imperial administrators,
industrialists, military officers and the like. An obvious example of such
cultural domination is the status enjoyed by the English language even today.
However, a lesser explored field of such cultural domination is through the
medium of sports.
“In the case of Britain and its
Empire in the last hundred years or so, sport played a part in holding the
Empire together and also, paradoxically, in emanating the subject nations from
tutelage,” writes historian Harold Perkin in his article, ‘Teaching the nations
how to play: Sport and society in the British empire and commonwealth.’ He goes
on to add that “few would deny that most of the sports and games the world now
plays were first organised in the present forms by the British in the
nineteenth century: association football, rugby, cricket, tennis, golf, rowing,
track and field athletics and skiing.” Sports, in that sense, allowed Britain
to decolonise on a friendlier note and also helped transform the Empire into a
Commonwealth of nations.
Imperial politics has been part
of the Commonwealth Games since its very inception. “The Empire Games created a
venue for the exercise of imperial citizenship through ritual,” writes
historian Daniel Gorman about the first games that were held at Ontario in
Canada in 1930. Conditions for
participation in the games included the need for contestants to be British
subjects, they had to be resident of a country they wished to represent
for at least six months, and they had to prove that they were amateur athletes.
The choice of Hamilton as the host city was also significant since in many ways
it symbolised the geographical center of the Empire.
In contemporary times, despite
the disappearance of the Empire, the politics of Commonwealth is still evident
in many ways. Most significant of course, is the way host countries are chosen.
The overwhelming dominance of Great Britain and the former white dominions as
hosts for the Games is noteworthy. It is notable that Britain tops the hosting list with six games, followed by Australia,
Canada, and New Zealand. “Jamaica, Malaysia, and India are the exceptions to
the hegemony of the imperial mother country and the former dominions,” writes
historian Martin Polley. Interestingly, despite 18 African countries being part
of the Commonwealth, the games have never entered the continent.
Credit: Indian Express Research
