The Merged Districts Sports Directorate: Where the Game is Played in Files, Not Fields

 

Musarratullah Jan , Kikxnow , digital creator

“The Merged Districts Sports Directorate! It is not an average government department. It is a whole state of being, a whole philosophy of life. In this world, games are a rare occasion, while acrobatic performances are frequent. It is not sportsmen who take part in racing, it is documents. It is not the ground that harbors the goal, it is the office.”

As this region was previously known as FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), there is an unwritten constitution in play even at this point in time, “Asking is forbidden, speaking is dangerous, and questioning is professional suicide.”

No one in this place asks questions, period, and if a soul dares to make the mistake of inquiring, he or she immediately gets the reminder: "This is the Merged Districts! Rules don't reign supreme, persons do."

Deputation officers come like it's a picnic, but they can’t remember how to leave, as if they lost their ID card. With time, they start to feel it’s not a district, it’s theirs. In FATA, people, particularly athletes, are known for being patient. They speak little about rights, and when they do, it’s always prefaced with an apology: “Sorry if this hurts you, but we won’t get anything anyway.”

The MDSD has not seen any development regarding sports over the past six years but only the revolving door of DGs and Secretaries of the MDSD. There have been changes in at least five DGs and the frequent change of Secretaries almost according to the occurrence of new months.

The files themselves remain confused regarding who their boss is.*The Two Faces of Authority*

Of the five DGs, there were a few "decent folk." "They will be remembered as men who met with the athletes, who did not turn their offices into fortresses, and who remained officers and not Pharaoh the Great themselves. Not saints perhaps, but at least they realize that the game comes from the field, not the file."

However, two more joined the department, making the office feel more like a moral lecture hall. They were high on the thrill of cracking a competitive exam and thought they were the only honest souls in the room, and the rest were born thieves. The motto of these two was: "Since I cleared the exam, I am the fountainhead of all knowledge."

Their listening abilities were such a joke that if someone told them, “Your ear has been carried away by a dog," they would neither look at their ear nor follow the dog. When they got back, they would suspend a harmless employee for presumably following the dog’s orders.

It is in these 'exam-passers' that the sports system in the Merged Districts has been particularly ruined by these people whom they hired as their personal confidantes to whisper to them day and night: "Sir, you are right; everyone else is a conspirator."

Some time ago, equipment went missing from the Sports Directorate's store, vanishing into thin air, just like the soul of the games themselves. An inspection team was formed, an inquiry was made, and the red tape was unwound, but again, the same old story ensued: zero.

 

People had seen the vehicles being loaded with the equipment. However, since the officer “had passed the exam,” all this was simply a case of a “misunderstanding.” The flatterers went on to say, “It was an optical illusion. The equipment was spoiled in any case.”

Next came the promotions. Favorite employees were illegally promoted, phony signatures collected, and the system was told everything was legal. When employees appealed to the courts, the ruling was overturned, but with a tacit condition, "We will reverse everything, but you must not mention the media."

This is no longer a promotion culture limited to Merged Districts. This is what is being replicated from the Chief Minister's office to Sports Directorate: It is not a matter of competency, but of proximity. Of performance, but of presence. Of athletes, but of bootlickers.

If a person asks what the criteria for promotion are at the Sports Directorate, the reply will be silence. Who produced the most athletes?  "Who organized the most tournaments?"

 Who brought the improvement in the games?

These are questions that are not really valid. The questions are:

What employees come to the office every day?

"Who bends in salutation?"

Who praises together with the cup of tea?

This process continues. The intoxication of power ensures that every-personal decision becomes an act of divine revelation, while contributions of others are viewed as a conspiracy.

A Serious Question (A Crime to Ask in MDSD)

If the Merged Districts Sports Directorate is different, then why not all of its systems different?

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s staff is separate. Merged Districts staff is separate. Engineering wing is separate. Coaches are separate. ADP (Annual Development Program) schemes are separate.

But why is this list one?

If a worker in this organization asks this question, he or she is labeled “ill mannered,” “ungrateful,” and “anti-system.” “Merit rewards are given on paper only and nothing else. Sect, group, and individual likes and dislikes have also been included in the calculation of seniority.” When seniority itself is also based on “sects,” will “any games be left or only relationships”?

It is worth mentioning that there have been honest cops here as well. The author himself has been admonished during his tenure. Honest people do exist, and this is why meetings are going on currently. All are being called, and they are being assured: “We will decide together whether to file a case on this matter or not, in order that our internal stories do not leak out.”

 In short, THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE PROBLEM; THE PROBLEM IS YOUR LEAKY LEARNING PROCESS. However, they must remember that the truth in games is not embedded in files. Athletes can be quiet, but they are not quiet forever. The louder the truth is kept under cover, the louder it bursts out.

The athletes in the Merged Districts are human beings. Their rights are not a privilege. The issue here is not the posing of questions. The issue is how long these questions have been suppressed. #kikxnow #digitalcreator #musarrat Would you like me to concentrate on a particular aspect of that column, perhaps a summary of the major issues that were identified?

#kikxnow #sportsnews #column #musarratullahjan #digitalcreator