Thumbs down on Pakistan

Prem Panicker

And so the Indian government has, once again, refused permission for the team to play Pakistan.

Why doesn't that surprise me one bit?

When Minister for Sports Uma Bharti told Board of Control for Cricket in India president Dr A C Muthiah, some months ago, that the government would permit India to play Pakistan provided it was part of some multilateral competition, BCCI officials promptly seized on the opportunity and hastily pushed through a schedule for the Asian Test Championship.

It is multilateral, in that it involves Sri Lanka and Pakistan as well. But the real key was to get one India-Pakistan encounter going, which could then be used to leverage others.

Only, the government didn't bite. And Jagmohan Dalmiya, chairman of the Asian Cricket Council, did the cause no good when he served an ultimatum on the government -- a move calculated to put said government's back up.

A couple of months back, I'd met Uma Bharti for an extended interview, which was subsequently published in India Abroad, the US-based newspaper Rediff.com acquired a while ago.

Cricket was merely a peripheral subject during that interview. "I am minister for sports so let's talk about sports," Ms Bharti told me, early in our conversation.

Cricket, though, did come up. In the form of two questions.

One was: You have been increasingly taking an activist stance in cricket affairs, is this the prelude to a government take over of the game?

"No," the minister said, with utmost emphasis. "We have absolutely no interest in taking over cricket, we are content to let the Board run the game. But I must add something -- the board has been getting all kinds of facilities and concessions from the government, like grounds at very low leases, tax benefits, things like that. The board is given these facilities because the government wants the board to use its grounds and its money to popularise cricket. It is a national obsession, a national religion.

"What we want is to see little children playing it in the villages -- and that is what the board is supposed to do. It cannot be a game for the cities, and a means for the board to make money, that is what I told Muthiah. If that happens, if we see that happening, then we will step in and rap them on the knuckles if we have to."

The other question, the obvious one in fact, was this whole question of playing Pakistan. And again, Ms Bharti was very clear in her views.

"First, I have to point out that the ministry for sports is not the decision-maker in this issue. We get proposals from the BCCI, and all we do is pass it on to the ministry for external affairs. It is the MEA that takes the final decision -- I as minister for sports do have my opinion, and I forward it to the MEA in the form of a note, but the final decision rests with Jaswant Singh and his ministry.

"But as a member of the Cabinet, I am naturally privy to our government's thinking on the issue. And in this capacity, there are a couple of points that need to be made. Cricket is identified with our country, it is a very emotive game for us. So playing cricket against someone with whom we are on terms of enmity has implications that are greater than playing hockey or football or some other game.

"Also, in the past, when we have played Pakistan, that country has used it for propaganda, even at the United Nations level. 'Where is there any problem between India and Pakistan, see, we are even playing cricket together,' they've argued from official platforms. So when it comes to cricket, the government is very careful about what it will permit and what it will not permit."

That was Uma Bharti on the subject. I didn't get to speak to Jaswant Singh at that time, but in the run up to yesterday's decision to deny permission for the Indian team to play in Pakistan, the signs were all pretty clear. In the aftermath of the Agra Summit, the Indian government, led by the Prime Minister and the Home and Defence Ministers, have been on this 'we will teach you a lesson' mission. Ergo, the revoking of the ceasefire, the beefing up of security personnel in the Valley, the declaration of six districts as disturbed, and the various hard-hitting speeches the three senior leaders have cut loose with at any and every opportunity.

To expect, against that background, that the government would permit the tour to proceed was naive -- and that is putting it mildly.

Personally speaking, my opinion remains the same as it was the last time this subject came up. What we need is for a policy, for a foreseeable length of time -- and not a situation where there is all this heartburn before every single mooted tournament/match.

If the government believes that the situation vis a vis Pakistan is, at this point in time, not conducive to cricketing contacts, then it will do itself, the board, and fans, a huge service by putting out a simple announcement to that effect. Something on the lines of: "The Union Government believes that the situation in the Valley makes it impossible for this country to indulge in cricketing ties with Pakistan. As and when the situation changes for the better, the government will review, revise, and make a fresh announcement."

End of story. End, too, of all this needless suspense.

As for the board, one of these days those motor-mouths will learn to just shut up. Time and again over the past year, events have followed a similar pattern. First, a tour or series is mooted, and permission sought. Then, one or more board official plants stories in friendly sections of the media, to the effect that "Informed sources indicate that the government is likely to grant permission" -- a very transparent ploy to build up media pressure on the government. And then, when -- as has happened time and again -- that permission has been denied, we are greeted with expressions of injured innocence, which wouldn't have any self-respecting Oscar jury even halfway interested.

And finally, what of the players? They must be one happy lot, mustn't they?

Initially, their schedule called for them, soon after the Lanka tour, to fly to Australia for three indoor one day matches, then fly direct to South Africa for a seven-ODI triangular to be followed by a Test series, then fly right back home and immediately take on England in Tests.

The board, over-reaching itself once again, cancelled the Australian ODIs in the belief that by organising an Asian Test Championship, it had worked its way around the government's ukase that only multilateral ties with Pakistan would be considered. And now the tour of Pakistan, and the other Tests of the ATC, have fallen through as well -- so the players now face the prospect of getting time to rest and recuperate before flying down to South Africa for what has to be the hardest assignment on their calendar for the season.

Take a headcount, if you will: Javagal Srinath treating his broken finger in Bangalore; Sachin Tendulkar treating his dodgy toe in Bombay and South Africa; VVS Laxman treating a game knee in Australia; Ashish Nehra resting a gone groin in Delhi; Anil Kumble treating his shoulder all over the world; Zahir Khan rubbing balm on a shin injury and soldering on in Sri Lanka regardless -- the last thing they needed was a calendar that left no time for rest and rejuvenation ahead of the South African safari.

They've got that break now -- and that makes them the happiest guys going, just now.

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