SPORTS IS A GREAT EQUALIZER WHICH TAKES AWAY GENDER BIASES IN MANY WAYS: KARTIKEYA SHARMA

Kartikeya Sharma, founder of Pro Sportify and Member of Parliament-elect (Rajya Sabha) from Haryana, was conferred the “Indian Sports Fan Award 2022” for his unmatched contribution to Indian sports at a glittering ceremony on Sunday evening. In a candid conversation with The Daily Guardian Review, he laid stess on encouraging women’s sports. Excerpts:

Q: Many congratulations on the victory, Sir.

A. It is an honour and pleasure to be here as a part of the Indian sports fan, the biggest body of fans in the country. I think the fans are neglected normally, so it is a pleasure to be a part of such an event by which the fans are recognised for their efforts and selfless love that they gave their heroes.

Q: Sir, what majorly are we planning to do for women’s sports in the state?

A. See, I’ve been always committed to women’s sports. I remember when I started the Pro Wrestling League in 2015, we were the first body to bring women and wrestlers on the same team.

And that was a great equalizer; sports is a great equalizer which takes away gender biases in many ways. And if I say very honestly, women athletes in many ways are outperforming male athletes.

And that is a very welcome change. I think a lot of credit goes to the thought process of the honourable Prime Minister of India who has started “Khelo India” to activate grassroots-level programs which will create leaders of tomorrow and we will see in the next 5-10 years the benefits of these grassroots programmes. I was lucky enough to witness this event in Panchkula, Haryana, where they started the Khelo India campaign. So such initiatives by the government, the kind of people that are brought into the politics who are sports people.

Like Mr Sandeep Singh, who has been a huge positive change in the field of sports. I think this is a huge shift in a way; we have to see the sports and our approaches to the sports. Very soon, we will see the benefits of it.