Middle of the road

Sujata Prakash

Ready or not, here I come! So sez Pakistan who would dearly love to hop across any border to play with India, but the rebuff continues. Or does it? Is there going to be an Indian participation in Sharjah? We are led to believe the government is against batting with the enemy, but do those sentiments extend to just the cancelled December/January tour of Pakistan?

Consider this. The CBFS has rescheduled the starting date of the Sharjah tournament from the 4th to the 8th of April, to accommodate the Indian team. So presumably the Indians are going there. I say presumably because the people of India are not sure what is happening, the government is silent and the BCCI thinks it's none of our business anyway.

Our business is to sit and witness the farce going on under the guise of 'There is to be no sporting links with Pakistan until they stop fomenting trouble on Indian soil.' Fair enough. Except that Pakistan is still fomenting trouble on our soil, so there should have been no question of going to Sharjah. What happens if India pulls out at the last minute, jilting the waiting brides after having reset the dates? What laughing stocks we will become, and what manners we will have displayed!

The sports ministry has obviously not been able to decide, declare and implement a policy concerning cricket and Pakistan. Which in itself is strange because cricket is not the only sporting tie we have with that country. If Pakistan is aiding terrorism, then let us cut off ALL sporting links (yes, that includes hockey) until normal ties can be resumed.

Cancelling just one tour or two and leaving it at that does not constitute cutting off all sporting links. But after the first flush of adrenalin, the government seems to be heading towards normalcy. Perhaps the ICC raising its eyebrows and the BCCI groveling for a rethink had something to do with it, or perhaps it's just one more example of incompetence at the highest level.

Whatever it is, the whole affair is beginning to reek of subterfuge. It's hard to believe that the CBFS would go so far as to change the itinerary of the tournament if they hadn't had good reason to believe that India would, in most likelihood, be taking part in it. We might never know if negotiations are going on between the various sporting bodies, but if there are then the sports ministry of India is in serious danger of putting its foot in its mouth.

Under such circumstances it was probably better for it to shut up and continue to let the BCCI honour its agreements with the PCB. In all fairness, Pakistan is coming out smelling better. It has, like always, stuck to one policy: that sports should not be confused with politics and that playing with India generates big bucks so hang the politics anyway.

So, Ms. Bharati, please decide which road to travel on. If the Indian team does go to Sharjah, then for heavens sake let us not have any more hypocrisy on the subject and concede failure. There is always the consolation of watching the two foes face each other on the field. And at such moments we will let ourselves believe that no one is fomenting trouble on our soil.