Mumbai politics - Cricket

[prasad1]

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[Vaagmi]

That cartoon is a simplistic view of the matter.

First the disclaimer: I do not belong to those fringe groups of bigoted fanatics.

The problem has two sides. It will be gross injustice to ignore one side and lecture about the virtues of the other side.

The incident: Sena group of enthusiasts barged into the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai and exhibited placards with the words Shahryarkhan go back. They also shouted at Manohar for calling the Pakistani Cricket Association chief to India for a dialogue.
Arun Jaitley announced pompously " there is no place for violence in a democracy". There was no violence in the incident.

Now the left out logic and questions:

When terrorists, who had their origins in Pakistan, came straight from that country on well equiped dinghies through the Arabian Sea, landed on the Konkan coast and entered Mumbai and bombed several places including the Taj Mahal Hotel and the VT Station, all the time controlled wirelessly from Pakistan by their masters in the ISI, India bleeded and cut a sorry figure.

When the BCCI is enthusiastic about inviting and hosting the Pakistan Cricket Association chief, treat him as a guest of honour, treat him with respect and then - this is most important - talk with him business, their intention has been questioned by the affected people of Mumbai. Can we forget all that blood shed by innocent Indians and talk business as if nothing has ever happened? Is the money that the cricket matches rake in that important to our country or the sport? It can never be business as usual as long as no action is taken by Pakistan against those enemies of India who are in the protection of that country. It is the shameless act of Indian BCCI that has been questioned by the affected people of Mumbai. Only the method adopted was extreme. But in our country any amount "Hyde Park" kind of silent protest will not work. They will recognize that you protested and then go about their business as usual. Money is that powerful. And the pity is that India was ready to share the profit earned from the matches with Pak (and enable them to send more terrorists into India fully equipped to shoot and bomb) because their players will be playing against India besides against other countries. What a shame!!! And when will these fellows grow their backbones?

So on a balance Shiv Sena did the right thing.

 

[prasad1]

[h=2]Cricket held hostage: Shiv Sena thuggery has ominous implications for World T20 in India next year.[/h]
Continuing its recent vandalising spree, two days ago Shiv Sena disrupted a meeting between the heads of Indian and Pakistani cricket boards, which were going to discuss the renewal of bilateral cricket ties. While India and Pakistan have always had a troubled relationship, this has not entirely deterred the establishment of sporting and cultural ties – which is a good thing. Given this backdrop, the resumption of bilateral cricket ties is well worth considering.
It is naïve to view sports in isolation. The context of politics and society matters. But when placed in that context, there is no evidence to suggest that ties between the two countries are at their lowest ebb. There have been occasions when the relationship was more strained and cricket was used as a tool to defuse the situation. A series hosted by India in 1987 on the heels of Operation Brass Tacks is one instance. Pakistan President Zia-ulHaq even used the pretext of watching cricket to engage in diplomacy. Even the Mumbai attacks did not freeze bilateral cricket ties as a short tour by the Pakistani team at the end of 2012 showed.
Bilateral cricket ties between India and Pakistan may not resume immediately, but we will have to host Pakistani cricketers. For example, India will host the World T20 championship in 2016 and early signs are ominous. Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar has been withdrawn by ICC for security reasons from the ongoing India-South Africa series. Pakistani commentators have also been forced into an unscheduled departure. The fallout of these recent developments goes beyond bilateral cricket ties. They harm India’s image and undermine Indian sports. Cricket cannot be freed of politics, but it ought not to be held hostage to it.
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatime...&utm_campaign=TOInewHP&utm_medium=Widget_Stry

I know some people want to live in isolation, but that is only a minority.
World is shrinking and we have to live in this world managing the diversity.

 

[prasad1]

The right wing party, which keeps it cadres in a state of readiness through prickly parochialism interspersed with dollops of xenophobia, has hardly ever sought strong reason to erupt into protest, often violently so. In an atmosphere that appears surcharged by intolerance nationally, the Sena needed barely a nudge to go on the rampage.
Of course, nothing the Sena has done has been as dire as the Dadri lynching or the murder of rationalists and writers. But it has certainly increased the frequency and stridency of its protests, with Mumbai as the playing ground for its grisly antics and visiting Pakistanis as the target.
Only a few days ago, it forced a ghazal concert by maestro Ghulam Ali, who has performed several times in the city in the past, to be cancelled. Ironically, the concert was in honour of the late Jagjit Singh.


This was followed almost immediately by the grotesque protest preceding the launch of a book by former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri. Sudheendra Kulkarni, head of the Observer Research Foundation which had organised the event, was doused in ink by activists.

To believe the Sena would allow the heads of the cricket Boards of India and Pakistan to hold talks, among other things for the resumption of bilateral ties in the near future, in the present circumstances was, therefore, hopelessly misplaced.
The Sena uses the patriot-versus-Pakistan card whenever it wants to score brownie points, and consensus opinion among political analysts is that its target at the moment seems to be its ally in the Maharashtra government, the Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP’s massive win in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections has caused a shrinking of the political space for the Shiv Sena, inducing perhaps a sense of paranoia and leading to its increased stridency.
In the prevailing circumstances, whether the Indo-Pak cricket talks could not have been scheduled in some other city by the BCCI is a moot point. It is also begs the question why the BJP, given its inability to prevent the Sena from creating a law and order issue, did not advise the BCCI against making Mumbai the venue.
But these questions are necessarily imbued with a sense of poignant sadness for cricket lovers. Mumbai has long been the nursery and bastion for Indian cricket. To see it become the epicentre of dissent rather than progress in cricket is dismaying.
Ironically, the family (and senior functionaries) who have controlled the Shiv Sena since its inception have been avowed cricket lovers, none more so than the late supremo Balasaheb Thackeray. In fact, the senior Thackeray was open in his appreciation of Pakistani cricket stalwarts (though not the country) and once even hosted Javed Miandad at his residence.
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-...from-cricket/article7785268.ece?homepage=true

 

[CHANDRU1849]

The Mumbai shoot out was a crime against humanity committed by the Pak terrorists with insider help. India must restrict his relationship with Pak at diplomatic level only.

It is very clear the 'sicularist' weeping from the roof top to resume the series, as he was not affected in any way by the shoot out,

Though Cricket is being played only by handful of countries, it is not wise to resume Cricket series with Pak. The more you ignore Pak the better. Instead, more number of matches may be planned with teams like England, Australia and South Africa, which will be more competitive, interesting and with no built up tension.