’tis not cricket
The refusal of the defence services team to play a cricket match in Srinagar has very little to do with cricket. It is about the politics associated with it and the message it conveys.
First the Union Home Ministry decides to ban the use of pre-paid mobile phones — which are 85 percent of the total mobile connections in the state — in Jammu & Kashmir. Then, the services cricket team — a joint team of the army, navy and the air force — decides not to turn up for their cricket match against Jammu & Kashmir in Srinagar. The reason, though not officially provided during the day, would have been the security concerns about their cricket team.
Then, the issue flared up with the state government taking serious offence to this decision of the services. Late in the evening, the services apologised to the cricket control board for “the administrative slip-up in despatch of its team” and requested for fresh dates to replay the match.
This is actually not merely about a cricket match between two lowly placed teams in the Plate division of the Ranji Trophy. It is much more than it, with all the political implications and messages that such an event in Srinagar conveys. The foremost among them is to shatter all the claims of the state government about a return of normalcy to the state. When the defence services themselves are unwilling to play a match in Srinagar, the Indian government’s continued insistence on a peaceful Kashmir has little credibility left in the international fora. This will also damage the peace process in the state recently initiated by the centre and weaken the hand of the government in these quiet talks with the Kashmiri separatists.
There are a few issues involved with this decision making that need to be probed further. The most important among them is finding the army official responsible for taking this decision. The security assessment would have obviously come from the local army formation, the Corps headquarters at Srinagar. And then the recommendations would have gone up the chain before the decision would have been taken at a higher, if not the highest level, in the army. If the political implications of such a decision were not grasped by people at that level, which necessitated referring such a decision to the political executive, then they simply do not deserve to occupy those high offices in the army headquarters.
In many quarters, this incident has been perceived as an attempt by the army to snub the state government, particularly the young Chief Minister of the state. His continued efforts to press the centre for diluting the provisions of the AFSPA, and for moving the army and Rashtriya Rifles out of the cities and towns have not gone down well with the army. In fact, there have been very few, if any, statements by the army proclaiming normalcy in the state. All statements by senior army officials about low violence figures in the state are laced with predictions of increasing attempts at infiltration and reactivated terror camps across the border. While these caveats may be true, this cultivated avoidance of acknowledging and promoting the return of normalcy to the state by the army brass lends credence to the charge that the army has developed vested institutional interests in maintaining the status quo in the state.
Finally, the damage control exercise by the army is an outstanding example in how not to conduct public diplomacy. The apology has come rather late; who has tendered the apology is not clearly spelled out. The apology has been tendered to the BCCI for an administrative slip-up, not to the state government and the people of Kashmir for a genuine mistake. Insincere and disingenuous, the apology and the offer of a rematch conveys the unmistakable impression of a decision forced on the army brass by their political masters. Where does it leave the army’s claims of building its image and winning the hearts and minds of the average Kashmiri now? In tatters, one presumes.
Since 1990, the army has done a great job and an yeoman service to the nation by fighting the might of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir. It is also equally true that the nation and the government have, at times, failed to recognise the efforts of the army in bringing normalcy to Kashmir. However, its glorious record of yore can not be an excuse for the army to take a political decision that nearly undoes all its past good work in J&K.
The army brass thus deserves a rap on the knuckles, not only to retrieve the lost ground in Kashmir, but equally importantly, to ensure that the army does not repeat the same mistake in the future.
Tailpiece – While pillorying the army over this cricket match in Kashmir, how can one ignore the Army Chief, General Deepak Kapoor’s recent statement. Echoing his Pakistani counterpart and other Pakistan government officials, he says that “the South Asian region is infested with terror groups. Be it India, Afghanistan or Pakistan, we have to collectively battle such [terror] threats.”
Pragmatic,
Thanks for this blog.
Regarding the Army Chief’s statement, it is possible that the Chief is being careful as he does not want his words to give pakistanis another reason to claim India is being aggressive and warmongering. The Pakistanis are already creating a racket about India’s (non-existent) “arms supply in S. Waziristan” and are fabricating evidence on that front. The Chief talks about fighting terrorism together with India’s neighbours, but what he has left unsaid is that all the terrorist activity is on Pakistani and Bangladeshi soil. Thankfully, the present Awami League Bangladeshi govt. is more cooperative than the previous BNP govt., which was hand in glove with Pakistan in running HuJI terrorist camps in Bangladesh.
[...] for the administrative slip-up and requested new dates for the game. Pragmatic Euphony has an excellent blog post on the politics behind this fiasco. Apple traders in J&K sold their produce last year to traders in POK, [...]
‘The most important among them is finding the army official responsible for taking this decision.”
A typical cock & bull story making a mountain out of mole hill.Clearly inspired by the anti Armed Forces Baboos cartel.Well the team collectivly decided not to play due to the lax security arrangements & by the way how do you know it was an “Army” official who took this decision?
I think we are mixing up two fundamentally different issues. The mobile phone issue is ‘cutting off the head to get rid of a headache’. Communications should be a fundamental right and no govt should have the right to restrict it. The action is somewhat akin to Mr. Modi banning Jaswant Singh’s book. In fact , a lot worse because the Home Ministry is punishing the community for the perceived errors of a few. What is the percentage of misuse vis-a-vis total no of mobile phones?
As far as the cricket match is concerned, I have no idea why the Services team did not turn up, but it would have been good for all concerned if it was treated like any other ‘no show’ and the defaulting team penalised as such. I am fairly certain that the average Indian including Kashmiri would not even have been aware of such a match till it was blown up into a media event. Does it really affect the life of anyone, other than those in the business of cricket and media?
As far as the Services are concerned a general reduction in the ‘promotion of sports’ beyond unit level may save a lot of manpower, and distraction from professional duties.
@BeeCee:
The mistake, which the service headquarters also made, is to look at it as just another cricket match. If Orissa cricket team refuses to play in Srinagar, it fine. When the services’ team refuse to do so, it is politically loaded message in the frozen turbulence of Kashmir. Going by the TV images, there was sufficient crowd and interest at the Stadium to watch the match. And why should you be giving any ammo to the separatists? A Plate league Ranji match is a non-event, but a Plate level Ranji non-match in Srinagar ends up as a big political event. That is the difference.
Btw, fully agree that government departments, including the services, have no business being in the promotion of sports. No two questions about that.
@ask:
by the way how do you know it was an “Army” official who took this decision?
The DG Military Training took the call based on the recommendations of 15 Corps & Northern Command. NDTV link here.
paraphrasing a comment on the story from the same link of NDTV (comment #6)
Posted by Brig(Retd)Ashok Joshi on Nov 04, 2009
“I think the recommendations of Hq 15 Corps as endorsed by HQ Nortern Command are final as they are the best judges as to the ground situation.Their decision cannot be swayed away by the discomfort shown by Dr Abdulla. On the field players are a soft target and you cannot carry out combing operations of the area like they must have done when our PM recently visited the valley. I think the decision of Army should be allowed to stand.”
so why can’t them play the paramilitary sainiks instead ? oic INA mms
did the usual snub and rule lately in the valley. all is fair in luv and waar.
‘Now, the Army Headquarters wants a complete explanation from 15 Corps and Northern Command”
The NDTV also states this,a patently false & incorrect statement.
@ Pragmatic
My point is not in defense of what the Services team did or whether the CM of the state erred in putting too much political capital in a non-event.
The issue of cutting of a basic amenity because the security agencies are not competent to handle its misuse must be shown up for what it is.
What will be cut off next, water and electricity to the state because somebody misused it.
The cricket incident may or may not give some political ammo to the separatists, but the mobile issue will definitely add to the grievances and alienation of the common man. The latter is more important.
What surprises me is the ‘Much ado’ about the cricket incident as against the ’silence’ over the mobile issue by the J &K political class, and the Home Minister also jumping into the fray. As in all cases where there is too much protest, the causes are usually different from those stated.
Personally, I think the mobiles issue is a matter of personal freedom and choice, the other is about politics/ administrative incompetence. Bracketing the two together trivialises the former. That’s ‘in principle’. Add to it the economic and social costs to get the full picture.
@BeeCee:
There is an unpublished post on the pre-paid mobile story lying in my drafts, almost on the lines of your comment. However I have been told by trustworthy people that there are some valid security reasons as to why it has happened. So, I am eschewing this topic unless greater clarity emerges on this topic.
The most important among them is finding the army official responsible for taking this decision.
I read the article in the TOI newspaper the next day. It was a front page news, but not the top news- Which was the Madhu Koda corruption scandal and the next prominent news (bold headlines) was the one about the unfortunate citizen who died when the PM was visiting Chandigarh and the man was not allowed to reach the hospital by someone in the PM’s security.
Who was this someone? Is it not more important to find this murderer?
Farooq Abdullah says that the PM during his recent visit to the state addressed the public without bullet proof glass, but our dear MMS Sahib can’t move through Chandigarh without turning the town into a fortress.
Find the Army official responsible- for what? Acting on an intelligence input- which could have saved some lives.
Farooq bhai would have played his dirty politics in any case.
And the joke is about services apologising- Services Cricket Team duly apologised to BCCI, whose tournament, the team was participating in. The team is not a theatre group which had been paid to entertain the tamashabeen at Srinagar.
What I understand from Pragmatic is that Services, ideally the COAS in full military uniform, should stand in front of a kashmiri politician (Omar Bhai?) and beg forgiveness.
What Raja Says at comment #7 above seems to be more practical than a yarn about Army snubbing the Young Omar.
The BCCI does deserve a kick in not ordering a rematch forthwith.
@Indian Ace:
Who was this someone? Is it not more important to find this murderer?
The “most important” thing in the world today is to find a solution to jehadi terror and in India is abject poverty & LWE. The “most important” thing in the context of the Kashmir story is accountability of the Army brass. If the brass doesn’t understand the implications of their decision, they don’t deserve to be in a position of taking those decisions.
Please understand the context of the blogpost before ranting about MMS, Chandigarh and so on.
And the joke is about services apologising- Services Cricket Team duly apologised to BCCI, whose tournament, the team was participating in. The team is not a theatre group which had been paid to entertain the tamashabeen at Srinagar.
About the cricket part, my whole argument is that it is not about cricket and BCCI. It is about the message that such a boycott sends. Sad that some people have never heard of a term called strategic communication and presume that army never does any wrong.
What I understand from Pragmatic is that Services, ideally the COAS in full military uniform, should stand in front of a kashmiri politician (Omar Bhai?) and beg forgiveness.
I use very simple English to let people “understand” stuff. A public apology from the army to the people of the state (when did I say Omar and full military regalia, Sir) would enhance the reputation of the army. Army is not beyond the nation and its people, not some holy cow that it can’t apologise to its own people whom it is paid and duty-bound to protect.
could also be that some brass have finally seen merit in visiting Major HPS Ahluwalia’s VK unit to get a makeover. Cheers
It was a bad decission by the Services Sports Control Board.If they feel insecure in Srinagar then who is safe there and what the hell are the security forces doing ? Are they trying to tell the nation that Srinagar is unsafe for them ? Or are they just playing a political game in the hands of the politicians ? Either way its unfortunate and the only way to retrieve the situation is for the Sevices Ranji team to play in Srinagar,even if its an exhibition match.
“It was a bad decission”
repeat Munich 1972 ?
dear all, i dont know why so much of ruckus is being created for a security related issue.those team members are not some sacrificial goats that can be sent for being murdered just to prove a point.One needs to see the stadium and securing it is one of the difficult tasks.Stadiums always attract a lot of media and are always a soft target for pak sponsered militants.militancy is alive and kicking is reiterated by everyone.The people in srinagar are the best judge and i recoomend that all arm chair analyists should go to srinagar and see for things themselves in cities which are easy for miliatants to operate as army is generally not operating in cities and security is with PMF/Police.i will request everyone to visit the place and not base assessments based on newspaper and periodical reports.it demoralises people out there.