LET’S GIVE OTHER SPORTS A CHANCE

Last one week saw hectic frenzy across all television studios. Former cricketers hopped from one studio to another lambasting Dhoni and his men for the abrasive performance displayed by them in the West Indies. This was the second year in a row that the team had faltered against quality pace bowling. A nation that has all along boasted to have the best batting attack in the world, capable of tearing apart any bowling unit was made to look like a club team.

This is not the first time that the nation & the media have gone out of the way to make the cricketers feel that they had committed an 'unpardonable' crime by faltering at such a big event. We witnessed similar scenes when the Indian

team exited in the first round of the '2007' world cup in West Indies, when we lost badly in our second group match against Australia in the 2003 world cup and way back in 1996 when we were stunned by Sri Lanka at Eden gardens in the world cup semi final.

We have never created such a hue and cry when our hockey or football teams fail during a big event or sometimes fail to even qualify for major international tournament. The problem with Indian psyche is that cricketers are not sportsmen but they are superstars or in a way our only hope of glory in the world of sport where we don’t hold such a great position.

Cricketers became icons way back in the 80’s when the Indian team for the first time won the cricket world cup. From there began the journey of Indian cricketers to become icons. We created icons like Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Mohd Azharuddin (who later became the villain after the match fixing scandal emanated) Kumble, Dravid, Ganguly, Sehwag,Yuvraj, Harbhajan & above all Tendulkar who by far has been the biggest of them all. These icons were created by the media on the foundation of solid fan following these cricketers or should I say super humans enjoyed.

So whenever our cricketing icons fail the fickle Indian psyche swings to the other extreme. From gods they become demons in an instant. All the past glories are forgotten and they are questioned like criminals for their failure. Yes, it is indeed sad that we tumbled in such a terrible fashion against the mighty short pitch bowling but the bigger problem is that we as a nation believe that we are a one-sport nation. So it is an unwritten law- that we have to perform every single time we step on the cricket field.

It is true that it is cricket among all the sports where we saw the maximum success in the 80s and 90s. This rise in cricket popularity also coincided with decline in our hockey performances. But in the last 2 decades we also saw other Indian sportsmen achieving huge success in different disciplines. Viswanathan Anand, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupati, Abhinav Bindra, Sushil Kumar Vijendra Kumar, Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza etc. We have performed exceptionally well in chess, tennis, wrestling, shooting, badminton, Kabbadi (we are the world champions in this sport) etc. All of them have done exceedingly well in premium sporting events but still we have not given them the same encouragement what we have given to our cricketers for so many decades now.

It is this trend that underlines the fact that we as a nation see ourselves doing well in only one sport. The week we got knocked out of the T20 world cup- that very week Viswanathan Anand won the world championship again and the Indian hockey team made it to the Shah Azlan cup finals. The Indian women cricket team also made it to semi finals of the T20 women world cup. The only reason it got a bit of coverage in the news was because the Indian cricket team failed so badly. Had they done a little better, these events wouldn’t have got the little coverage they did manage to get.

It’s high time that we tone down our obsession towards cricket and start appreciating our success in other sports. This change in attitude is imperative for India to prosper in other sports as well. This nation has the talent to excel in other disciplines, let’s give them a fair chance as well!!

UPA’S BIGGEST HEADACHE :COALITION DHARMA

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his first press conference after taking charge of the government for the second time, seemed a bit nervous while responding to the media queries. Probably that’s the nature of Dr Singh who believes more in action than words.

In the last one year, there have been many thorny issues that have pricked the government. To begin with the positives – the government was successful in handling the global financial crisis. The woman reservation’s bill which got passed in the Rajya Sabha, and the Right to Education Bill, were some key achievements of the UPA 2. But if we look at the negatives - clearly the price rise issue has hurt the government and the people of the country the most.

The Naxal issue has led to more chaos and destruction rather than achievements. Pakistan’s failure on the 26/11 front has also not helped the government.

To measure a performance of any government it is important to take individual performances of the cabinet ministers into consideration. After all a government is like any other team, especially when it involves coalition partners. Over all the performance of the ‘Congress’ ministers has been satisfying. Kapil Sibal, P. Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee have been the star performers for the government in their respective ministries. Shashi Tharoor , who was in the news throughout for the all the wrong reasons, was show the exit door while Jairam Ramesh has been appreciated for his work as the environment minister but has been a let down for his comments on other ministers.

But the biggest negative for team UPA has been the performance of the coalition partners and their ministers.

Sharad Pawar has made more news in cricket rather than agriculture and agri-products which directly impacts the price of essential food items. He has been a total failure on that front.

Mamata Banerjee has been a visiting minister for the government. She is mostly in Kolkata and her priority is the West Bengal elections next year. She has been soft on the Naxal issue and has openly criticized the government for its policy towards Naxals. Mamata is clearly turning out to be the biggest irritant for the current UPA government much like the ‘Left’ parties who stalled various reform decisions taken by the UPA during its first tenure..

The DMK is the biggest liability for the government in terms of performance. M.K Alagiri and A Raja have been an embarrassment for the government. A Raja’s alleged involvement in the 2G scam, which if proved by the investigating agencies, would be the biggest scam in the history of India. Though the PM has defended Raja, but with a rider that if anyone is found guilty, he will take action. On the other hand, Karunanidhi’s elder son Alagiri has been a complete misfit in the capital so far. He has not been attending the Parliament, even after been reprimanded by the speaker. He has shown no interest in his portfolio so far.

But Manmohan Singh’s biggest problem is that he can’t take ministers from coalition partners to task. He can’t pressurize them as he has to keep this coalition intact for the UPA to last a full 5-year term. The first year is a very short duration for any government to be judged as all the major reforms are initiated only from the third-year onwards. If the first tenure saw the rise of Manmohan Singh as an effective political leader; this tenure would be a test of Singh’s ability to extract good performances from his team. No one doubts Singh’s potential as an individual performer but if his other ministers do not perform in this tenure, it would dent Singh’s legacy.

KASAB & SHAHZAD: THE COMMON LINK

Last week Ajmal Amir Kasab was finally handed over the capital punishment as expected. In the same week Faisal Shahzad, who attempted to detonate a bomb in Times Square was arrested from JFK airport in New York. US officials’ claim that Shahzad has confessed that he indeed did try to blow up a bomb kept inside a car at Time Square to kill and terrorize people.

On the face of it Kasab & Shahzad have nothing in common except the fact that they both hail from Pakistan and both were trained by the same terror establishment which is based in Pakistan. Otherwise both of them have pretty distinct backgrounds. Kasab was born in a poor

family from a remote village in Punjab, largely illiterate and unemployed, who briefly worked as a labourer in Lahore before he joined the training camp of LeT. While on the other hand Shahzad had a privileged upbringing in a decent family. His father was in the armed forces and he mainly stayed in the big cities of Pakistan and received good education. He moved to the US in 1999 where he got his degree in computer engineering and also worked in various companies.

For many it has come as a shock that given Shahzad’s background and education he still chose the fundamentalist approach. But there is one ‘root’ cause that actually underlines a similarity between Kasab & Shahzad. Both the men were going through financial problems at different levels. Kasab in his confession stated on camera that his trainers had promised 1, 50,000 rupees for his family if he did his job well. Incidentally, according to the initial reports that are emerging with regards to Shahzad suggest that even he was a victim of the financial crisis that had engulfed United States last year.

The Islamic fundamentalist groups have exploited this situation faced by young Muslims across income levels to the fullest. Though, this is not the only factor that must have influenced the minds of these two individuals but was definitely a vital factor. These examples clearly demonstrate that the Islamic fundamentalist groups have a streamlined propaganda and indoctrination process in place. The pattern and the approach vary depending on the background of the individual. For example Kasab in his confession stated that he first got introduced to LeT through a pamphlet which was been distributed in his village by LeT members. The pamphlet asked young village boys to join their training camps. The case of Shahzad is not an isolated one involving a young, educated Muslim been swayed by an Islamic terror group. The involvement of Ahmad brothers in the failed terrorist attack that was attempted at the Glasgow airport & London in 2007 also illustrates the sophisticated approach that has been adopted by these groups to indoctrinate these educated men.

Till now poverty has been considered the root cause for violence-whether its naxal based terrorism or even religious based terrorism to an extent, but now this new form of ‘urban financial crisis’ that has emerged in the recent years is another dangerous phenomenon. Hopefully this won’t become another catalyst that would give birth to urban based right wing terrorism.

MODI OUT, BUT WHO WILL FIX THE BIGGER MESS?

On Sunday night when Kieron Pollard was trying to play the innings of his life in the final few overs to take Mumbai Indians home, another man in the stadium was also trying everything possible in the book to save his job as the chief of IPL. But for Lalit Modi this time around all his shots had failed. The BCCI just a few minutes after the final ball was bowled at the D.Y. Patil stadium clean bowled Modi. He was e-mailed his suspension letter which effectively meant that he could not attend the bigger final on Monday- the IPL governing council meeting.

The suspension of Lalit Modi without even given a chance to offer an explanation is definitely unfair. True, the man ran the IPL like his own private business and if the
allegations against him turn out to be true then he should be tried and punished for the same. No matter how big is the crime, the accused is always given a chance to defend himself under a fair trial and even Modi deserves a chance.

But the biggest highlight of the whole series of ugly events has been the manner in which the BCCI has crucified one man for the whole IPL mess. No doubt Lalit Modi was the chief of IPL and he is the prime accused but it was not only Modi who was running the IPL. There are twelve other members on the governing council of the IPL which include the BCCI president Shashank Manohar, three strong politicians & three former Indian captains. So how can all of them be given a clean chit that too by themselves? Isn’t the BCCI president who heads the cricket board morally responsible for what has happened? Shouldn’t the whole governing council resign so that a ‘fair’ investigation can take place? Shashank Manohar said in the press conference that the reason for Modi’s suspension is to have a ‘fair’ investigation without any hindrances. Doesn’t that apply to the whole IPL governing council?

The end result- the IPL governing council remains intact minus Modi, with some of its members being promoted and given bigger responsibilities. How can this council be trusted when they failed to question the very functioning of the same IPL in the last three years? This is one of the biggest failures on the corporate governance front. The whole issue of corporate governance was raised during the ‘Satyam’ fiasco and its back to haunt us again.

The issue is not restricted to the IPL only. This issue also raises doubts on the whole functioning of the BCCI. Many would argue that BCCI is a private body and therefore is not accountable. The fact that they run the most popular sport of this nation makes it mandatory for them to be accountable to the people of this country. Because cricket is not their private property- it belongs to the whole nation which adores the sport. The BCCI is accountable to the government for the simple fact that the government has exempted BCCI to pay taxes being a private trust. The government also provides them all kinds of facilities from stadiums to police security for matches and does not charge them a penny even though it’s run by a private body. And thanks to all these exemptions, BCCI is the second richest sports body in the world with annual revenues running into billion of dollars.

And finally, why is it that Shashi Tharoor had to resign? Doesn’t that rule apply to Pawar & Patel whose names have cropped up during the last few weeks? Or will the Congress this time again stifle under coalition pressure like it did during the A Raja controversy on the telecom 2G spectrum front sometime back. The government will have to ensure that a thorough enquiry is conducted not only into the IPL but the whole functioning of BCCI. This is a golden opportunity for the government to clean the stinking corruption embedded in cricket administration which is so essential for the sport to grow. If it fails to do so then cricket would continue to remain the golden goose which will keep giving golden eggs to a handful of politicians & businessmen of this country.

THAROOR PAYS THE PRICE, BUT WILL MODI SURVIVE?

It was Modi’s in swinging yorker that saw Tharoor’s middle stump flying out of the ground. Many would term Tharoor’s resignation as a victory for Lalit Modi & the BJP. But the fact remains that this IPL (Indian Political League) like the original one is not over yet. And there can still be a twist in the Tale.

Sonia Gandhi & Dr Singh’s decision not to back Tharoor had one key element attached to it. Both didn’t want the current UPA to be linked to any form of corruption charges. Tharoor might be a bit unlucky also as probably his intention was not to make money himself but the route chosen by him to participate in the IPL frenzy has cost

him dearly. From the time reports surfaced on Tharoor’s participation in the bidding process, he was in trouble. Being a little too straightforward for Indian politics which led to him acknowledging that he was mentoring the Kochi side and never shy of roaming with his love interest in public has cost him dearly. Now a mentor can be interpreted in different ways. Similarly his proximity to Sunanda Pushkar who happens to be a stake holder in the Kochi consortium without investing a penny was something too crude to digest for Indian polity. That’s exactly what Modi & the BJP did. And with each passing day a new revelation of Tharoor’s role kept emerging.

But Congress’s larger game plan was not only to keep its track record clean but also to launch a counter attack on the BJP led opposition. Even before Pranab announced that IPL will be probed and the guilty will not be spared, the Income tax department was on the game

The reason why Tharoor lost the first round to Modi many would say is because the former was a minister; hence he was a public servant, while Modi heads a private entity and is not accountable to the public directly. But there are other reasons as well which is why Modi survived the initial attack atleast. The first advantage Modi had was that he might be close to the BJP, but he is not a BJP worker officially. So even if they attack Modi, the Congress cannot link him directly to the saffron party. Moreover Congress ally Sharad Pawar is openly backing Modi.

But with the I-T department determined to implicate Modi, this just might be the tip of the iceberg. If Modi is sacked by the BCCI or taken to task for the alleged financial mishaps within the IPL, he will not go out silently but will make the whole BCCI face the music. IPL is a subsidiary of the BCCI, so if Lalit Modi is indicted so will be the IPL and invariably the BCCI. And if that happens then we will see a Pandora’s Box being opened. And with the likes of Sharad Pawar, Arun Jaitley & Farooq Abdullah on the BCCI council, this could lead to a major political storm. Not only are politicians involved but even the big corporates are involved in the BCCI & the IPL

N.Srinivasan who is the vice-chairman of India Cements owns the Chennai Super Kings. And Mr Srinivasan also happens to be the secretary of the BCCI. K.Srikanth is the official brand ambassador of the same team and he also happens to be the chief national selector of the BCCI. So wasn’t there a conflict of interest right from the first round of bidding which happened in 2008? It’s now a direct battle between the government and the BCCI backed by politicians & strong corporates.

But in the end the biggest loser is not the political class, but the brand IPL itself. Though till now there are no signs of the audience rejecting the tournament because of the latest controversy, but IPL as a sporting brand which is becoming a global phenomenon has definitely taken a beating. A brand which has made India proud may become a tainted sporting property. And again the culprits remain the same as they have always been in the last six decades- politics, money & corruption.

TIME FOR INDIA TO TALK TOUGH

On 18th July 2005 when George W Bush and Dr Manmohan Singh jointly announced the historic nuclear agreement in Washington, many thought that this would be the beginning of a relationship that would dominate the world in the 21st century. Some even compared it to the US-Israel relationship that has been rock steady for the last 6 decades. But Dr Singh would have never imagined at that time that the nuclear deal which was the symbol of this new love affair between the two nations for which he also put his chair and the government on the line in 2008 (The Left pull support from the UPA) would start loosing its sheen so early.


Bush and Dr Singh were the architects of this new strategic relationship which was created on mutual benefit & trust. But unfortunately for India the meaning of the word ‘mutual benefit’ which was defined by these two leaders in 2005 changed in January 2009 when Barack Obama took over as the president of the United States of America.

In the last one year there have been three key issues that clearly indicate Washington’s priority and preference. The thorniest issue has been the 26/11 investigation. From the time of 26/11, India’s reliance on the US to pressurize Pakistan to act against the Pakistan based terror camps has been a complete failure. Yes, the US has publicly always made statements that Pakistan must act and speed up the process. But the reality still remains that Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of 26/11 is still roaming around scot free. Similarly when David Headley admitted his role in the 26/11 attack, the US officials immediately made it clear to India that Headley will not be extradited to India. The only assurance given was that Indian investigators would be given access to him for questioning. How soon and for what period is still not known. The third issue has been the India-Iran relationship. The US has been continuously pressurizing India not to do any business with Iran. India has been in talks with Iran over the multi billion dollar gas pipeline which is pivotal for India’s growing energy needs.

Lets take an hypothetical example with regards to 26/11 investigations. Had the US been in India’s position and say Iraq or even Iran had been directly responsible for 9/11 then would it had ever allowed India to do business with either Iran or Iraq? It launched an all out war against Afghanistan in 2002. Not only did it attack Afghanistan but took along with it a host of sycophants like the UK, Australia etc, who were not the victims of 9/11. But on the other hand now the US is not only providing financial aid to Pakistan but also considers it a big partner in its fight against the Taliban. And for India, Pakistan’s soil was used to attack Mumbai on 26/11.

Similarly to the issue of Iran with which the US has had a long standing problem and till date the US has been alleging that Iran has a hidden nuclear weapons program in place which is dangerous for the world. Washington has been pressing for more sanctions and pressurizing New Delhi not to do any business with them. Iran is a democratic state and even if there are grey areas in their nuclear plan even then it should be handled through a dialogue in the same manner as the US has been advocating India on the Pakistan issue. Washington has all this while pushing India to have a dialogue with Islamabad even though they have failed to deliver on the 26/11 front. Washington has no right to tell New Delhi not to work with Iran. Washington has never had any problem with Israel, which has all along developed weapons and used them against Palestine.

And the last but the most major issue relates to Headley. US attacked Afghanistan citing that Osama Bin Laden is hiding there. Ironically, one of the main culprits (Headley) who has accepted his role in 26/11 is sitting in the US but the victim India cannot extradite him. But hypothetically, had India given shelter or even arrested Osama then was there ever a chance that the US would have agreed to him not been extradited to the US?

All these three issues highlight the double standards that have been followed by the US administration. It also reflects that Obama’s priority is not India but Afghanistan for which it needs Pakistan. That’s the precise reason why it is not handing over Headley as that would lead to a complete exposure of Pakistan’s role.

Dr Singh who is currently in the US for the nuclear summit and also met Obama should step up the gas. It is essential to convey the message to their US counterparts that 26/11 investigation is as important for India as the 9/11 attack was for the US. And its time that India stands firm even on the Iran issue. Because the nuclear deal is now history & there isn’t any more big presents coming from the US. If India stifles under US pressure then its journey to become the superpower of this century would be defeated.

MODI & CONGRESS ARE EQUAL CULPRITS

Narendra Modi can easily be termed as the most intriguing politician of modern day Indian politics. That’s why it comes as no surprise that his recent visit to the Supreme Court appointed SIT for questioning in the Gujarat riots has evoked strong emotions yet again. The media & human rights groups have termed this event significant as it is for the first time that a sitting chief minister is been questioned for his/her role in communal riots. Whether Modi gets indicted or not is still to be seen but it is important to note that the Congress which has left no opportunity in the past to attack Modi on this issue and is an equal culprit when it comes to communal riots.

Congress is guilty for been involved in communal riots directly or indirectly just like the BJP. The anti-Sikh riots in 1984 are still one of the worst riots that have taken place in independent India. The riots broke out in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination and the Congress leaders were alleged to have led the mobs and exterminate Sikhs in Delhi. Similarly, when the Babri mosque was demolished in 1992, it was again the Congress that was in power. Then PM Narasimha Rao was widely criticized for not having done enough to protect the structure (mosque) which led to one of the worst communal riots that independent India had witnessed. So why is it that the Congress has always managed to escape any legal scrutiny and has still presented itself as the ‘most’ secular political party?

When the 1984 anti Sikh riots took place in Delhi, the Congress was in power at the centre and Delhi been a union territory came directly under the central government. There was no Delhi chief minister but the central government, the home ministry which were very much in the heart of the capital failed to stop the riots which went on for three long days. And it’s been nearly two and half decades but no one has been prosecuted. Ten commissions were formed post the riots, but finally the Nanavati commission’s report did name Tytler and Sajjan Kumar. Yes, there are cases in the court against the Jagdish Tytler & Sajjan Kumar, but lets not forget that the CBI had given cleans chits to both these Congress leaders not too long ago. It was again the Supreme Court that ordered the reopening of these cases. The other factor that has helped the Congress is that from 1984 till 1989 the Congress was in power. And the ‘n’ number of coalitions that came to power in between including the NDA failed to investigate the riots.

Similarly, the culprits of the Babri mosque demolition and the riots that followed have still not been prosecuted. The much awaited Liberhan commission report which was tabled a few months back and which also named some BJP politicians but not surprisingly gave a clean chit to Narsimha Rao turned out to be a complete eye wash. Even the Congress did pursue any legal action as that would have also forced them to owe responsibility given that they were in power. The CBI case is still going on against Advani & other BJP leaders but a dramatic action against them is unlikely. With no television media presence during the ‘84 riots and limited print media, the news coverage was also lackluster in the long run.

On the other hand, Gujarat has managed to stay in the limelight for a plethora of reasons. Firstly, the role played by the vigilant media, especially, the English media which was instrumental in covering the riots in Gujarat comprehensively and objectively. The second important factor was the UPA’s or rather Congress’s return to power in 2004. The time UPA took over the home ministry in 2004, the Gujarat riots were still fresh in the minds of the people and the Congress used that to its advantage by expediting the investigation process.

The only difference between the Congress & BJP remains that the former has apologized for the ‘84 riots while the latter still remains unapologetic for the 2002 Gujarat riots. Sonia Gandhi & Manmohan Singh both have publicly apologized for the ‘84 riots where as BJP & Modi still refuse to accept any moral responsibility for the riots.

So if the Congress truly wants to proclaim the crown of the true secular party of India, it is imperative that the two incidents mentioned above should be investigated objectively and the culprits should be brought to the book. Yes, as a nation we have moved much ahead with the hope that such communal riots do not occur ever again. But still the culprits who have shaken the fabric of secular India move scout free, the emergence of the new Congress (Rahul era) will remain hollow.