Asia Times: Outrage as Hindu fanatics threaten cricket series



	January 23, 1999	atimes.com

India-Pakistan

Outrage as Hindu fanatics threaten cricket series
By Dev Raj

NEW DELHI - In India, where cricket is religion,few would tolerate determined efforts by Hindu fanatics of theShiv Sena (army of god) to sabotage the much awaited India-Pakistan test series this month.

When the Sena, a close ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, vandalized the Boardof Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at the hallowed BrabourneStadium in Mumbai on Monday, they may just have gone too far.

The reaction of the BCCI was swift. It dramatically shiftedits offices - perhaps forever - some 2,000 kms east to the Eden Gardens in Calcutta,another internationally known cricket venue.

In the southern city of Chennai, where the series arescheduled to begin on Jan. 28, police announced the preventivearrests of 27 Sena members including its two top leaders andbrought the stadium under tight security.

Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani told reporters here, Tuesdaynight, that ''all those who perpetrated the attack (on the BCCIoffices at Mumbai) should be taken to task."

But the fact that no arrests have yet been carried out is notsurprising considering that the Shiv Sena, led by its firebrandleader Bal Thackeray, is a partner in the BJP-led governmentthat rules Maharashtra.

Although the Shiv Sena has denied any role inthe attack, no other group could have walked into the BCCIoffices, beaten up the staff, smashed coveted trophies includingthe 1983 Prudential Cup and walked away with impunity.

An editorial in ''The Times of India'' daily on Wednesday saidcynically that ''the government will no doubt cite the securitymeasures it had taken and the stern warning conveyed personallyby Mr. Vajpayee to M.r Thackeray as proof of its commitment to thecoming Indo-Pak test fixture."

In fact, Thackeray himself has announced that the Shiv Senawould not allow the series to be played. ''Forget the PrimeMinister, I will not allow the matches,'' he said in response tothe warnings.

Thackeray has consistently held that he did not care for Indiato improve relations with its neighbour. ''I do not know what hashappened to the Vajpayee government - what kind of relationshiphe [Vajpayee] wants to improve with Pakistan,'' he said in arecent televised interview.

Thackeray's arrogance was one of a piece with his rejection ofhis indictment by a judicial commission for his role in the anti-Muslim riots spearheaded by the Shiv Sena in Mumbai (previouslyBombay) five years ago, which left thousands dead or homeless.

But popular opinion swelling up against the Thackeray and theSena over the vandalism at the offices of the BCCI andcontinuing threats to disrupt the series may now compel ashowdown.

''It is untenable that the [central] government shouldthreaten action against Sena activists even while its politicalwing continues its alliance with the parent organisation,'' TheTimes's editorial said.

''In its [the Sena's] worldview, nationalism might besynonymous with stopping cricket matches and even destroyingtreasured cricket symbols but that is not nationalism for thevast majority of Indians,'' the editorial opined.

The BJP must now be weighing the risk to its governments inMaharashtra and New Delhi should the Sena persist indisrupting the matches, which Vajpayee has promised will beplayed. The Sena has six members in Parliament, where the BJP-ledcoalition has a razor thin majority.

''It is hard to believe that the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition cansurvive for very long after what has occurred,'' said anotherhard-hitting editorial in the widely-circulated Indian Expressdaily on Wednesday.

The Indian Express editorial was particularly critical of therefusal of the BJP's chief minister in Maharashtra, Manohar Joshi, tocondemn the vandalism, which he had done while taking refuge in claimed ignorance.

''It is Joshi's responsibility first to publicly condemn thewreckers of BCCI property as criminals and ensure the culpritsare arrested and prosecuted,'' the newspaper said.

For now, the Indian government seems to be bent on tacklingthe problem by arranging for massive security at the stadia wherethe series are to be played, while protecting India's own cricketers whohave been directly threatened by the Sena.

The Ferozeshah Kotla stadium in Delhi, where the second leg ofthe series will be played out between Feb. 4 and 8, now resemblesa fortress with around-the-clock security to prevent a repeat of anight raid by Sena activists, who dug up the pitch last week.

Reports from Islamabad indicate that Pakistan is equally keenthat the tour, the first by a cricket team from Pakistan onIndian soil in 12 years, should go ahead as scheduled despitethe serious security threat.

As a mark of the importance it accords to the Pakistan tour,Islamabad has appointed a seasoned diplomat and former foreignsecretary, Shahryar Khan as team manager.

Matches between the two countries, violently partitioned fromBritish India on religious grounds in 1947, have often beendisrupted by unruly behaviour both by players and by spectatorswho have hurled brickbats and crackers at pitches.

Fears are rife that carrying the series through in such acharged atmosphere may harm rather than help relations betweenthe two countries, which nose-dived last year after they set off a rivalling series of nuclear tests.

(Inter Press Service)

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