100 Days...And Counting

While the whole country has been distracted with one thing or the other, Manipur has been reeling under the affect of the indifference of the central government and the bullying tactics of influential regional goondas. The north-eastern states seem to be caught in a time warp, struggling to shake off their past legacies. In this day and age of advanced communications and other technological improvements it is a shame that the adage "out of sight; out of mind' still applies to the region.

The lack of any meaningful communication from our government is not only baffling but absolutely inexcusable. The media too did not pick this story until the landmark 100 day milestone was attained. Sachin's 100 landmark apparently is much more important. People in the 'mainland' are oblivious to the going-ons in the north-east; we cannot even begin to understand the gravity of the situation over there. Imagine living in Delhi, Bombay wherever, for more than 3 months, without regular fuel supply, without access to cooking gas and other essentials. War time supplies are less regulated! And here is a state, within our boundaries, alienated from the rest of the nation.

That we have always ignored the seven sisters is not a secret, but when we sit idly by, watching a whole state being cut off from the rest of the country, it reflects our lack of respect for human life. The fact that we grade human life in this country according religion, location, caste etc etc is being manifested by the blockade in Manipur. Government after government at the center; has indulged in a systematic isolation of the people living in the north-east. Why then does it come as a surprise to many, that there are so many separatist movements in the region? Why wouldn't they want to leave?

For long now our political parties have been satisfied with conducting periodic elections and not much else. Their idea of integration has been limited to appointing district collectors and other useless bevy of government officials. As democracy has worked (or not) in the rest of the country, the north-eastern states have also witnessed corrupt and greedy leaders come to power. The constant struggle for power has provided ample room for separatists to claim legitimacy. The Government of India acts only when a few bombs go off and there are noises made regarding autonomy or independence. What it wishes to do by retaining these people, other than having to avoid reprinting a large number of maps is beyond me. There is a lack of will to integrate people from the region.

There might be racist undertones in the way government representatives operate in the region but I believe it is the lack of number which guides the govt's out of sight out of mind outlook. I suggest we double the number of MPs coming from the north-east, just so that they count for more. It has been a long, bloody path for the region and its people. They deserve much better. If we don't even want to try, if we don't even care, then why resist their wish to lead their lives on their own terms. Forget the politics, the history; they are human beings, citizens of this country. Surely they deserve much better?

What A Fucking Shame

Eleven years after the Delhi Police broke the match-fixing scandal, three players have been jailed for a more modern nano version of the same. It is a fucking shame that the ICC, the police, the various boards let things get so bad; that these things still happen. And thank god for the British media and the justice system, else god knows what else might have continued to happen. But I will come to that later.

The sheer stupidity, and that is all it took, displayed the by the three idiots is astounding. All the convicted players were phenomenal practitioners of the game. Asif and Amer were being touted as potential leading bowlers of the future. Salman Butt was probably on his way to become one of Pakistan’s best opening batsmen. It was their stupidity which led them on the path of greed.

I must admit that I initially had mixed feelings when the verdict came out. I genuinely felt bad for the three idiots, being imprisoned for what is essentially cheating. But that did not last long. The way these people have let down their country, their sport, the fraternity of fans worldwide, quickly made me angry again. This is colossal. For any cricket fan, for any sports’ fan; with a conscience.

Cheating it was. But sadly for them it was also bloody illegal. It is about time that the law catches up with sportspersons too. They are as much a part of society as the people who pay to watch them. There have been some sympathetic noises being made about Salman Butt having a son and Mohammed Amer being an 18 year old village boy. Bullshit. While it is easy to sympathize, it requires courage to do the right thing. They have only themselves to blame.

The only reason why this case has proceeded to trial and punishment is because it was exposed outside of the sub-continent. Compare the proceedings in UK with what has happened in India since 2000. One of the banned players is a Member of Parliament, another one is a celebrated commentator with equally shady fixers posing as news people at NDTV and the others; well they have moved on, helped along the way with their ill-gotten wealth. When the richest board in the world is run by someone like Pawar there is much more that goes on than your harmless hood-hood-wink-wink act. There is no doubt in my mind that there was a deliberate effort to not convict Indian players suspected of fixing matches. What the fuck is a ban? Is it not admitting that the players were guilty and if so why aren’t their asses in jail? Why does Azhar get to escape prison and get elected to the highest representative public body in the country? Why does a leading news channel have a former suspect on its expert panel?

These questions have only one answer. Because we do it too. Atleast we have in the past. We are just too strong an entity to let things affect us like normal folk. When politicians fill cricket boards with their musclemen and errand boys (such as Mr. Srinavasan), the system essentially invites match-fixers, bookies and all the other scum that moves across our stadia and pavilions. The only reason Butt & Co. got jailed is because the PCB is as fragile as the country they represent. There is no way in hell that an Indian player would have even faced trial, forget actually serving time.

But the times are changing. Transparency is the new buzz word. Sensibilities are improving amongst the administrative folk. But a lot more needs to be done. There has to be an earnest effort in finding out who else is involved in this sick evil scam. Past and present. The Akmal brothers and Wahab Riaz have been named during the course of the trial. They need to be investigated. A few Indian names too have cropped up. We need to go after these morons with all the might and vengeance that we can muster. Does not matter if we are faced with uncomfortable situations, with big names coming out. Go after those buggers too.

The ICC too needs to shake things up a bit. Life bans would be in order for those found guilty. What the hell does a 5 year ban with 2 suspended even mean? It is absurd to imagine that a player can come back after being punished for crimes of this magnitude. Players who sell their souls, deserve no sympathy. If Salman Butt was worried about his to-be-born kid, he should have just played better. He was a young captain, with the support of the board, what more could he have asked for? Apparently a lot. Well the cricket field is not the place for it. I can give him the address of a person who knows a thing or two about making money on the side. He stays at Clifton Street, Karachi.

Closer home the BCCI needs to address the many burning issues threatning the very essence of the sport. They somehow swapped match-fixing with the IPL,  but the players stay the same. The unholy nexus of politicians and corporates needs to be undone on the administrative side. Let the ex-players manage the show. If we go on the way we have since 2000, it wont be too long before one of ours is caught in a situation similar to that of the Pakistanis. And that would be the end of it. Screw the IPL, screw test cricket, screw the big names. Fans would just stop loving the game as they always have.