IPL VS POLITICS
Which of the two IPLs were you voting for? The Indian Premier League or the Indian Political League? In other words, were you for the general
elections, even if it meant cancelling this year's IPL, or would you have cast your ballot the other way round: never mind the polls, give first preference to ccricket?
Following the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, high-profile cricket fixtures such as the IPL matches are seen as high-risk terror targets, requiring massive security bandobast. However, with the national elections scheduled for more or less the same time-frame as the IPL events, it was felt there weren't enough security personnel to afford adequate arrangements for both the polls as well as the cricket.
This had put a gloomy question mark on IPL 2009, entailing an enormous loss of revenue for the cricketing fraternity, not to mention the chagrin of diehard fans who swear by the slogan that cricket is their birthright, and they shall have it, no matter what. The resultant controversy had virtually split the country into two: those whose first preference is the electoral process, and those who'd opt for IPL, even if it meant postponing the polls. When you boil it down, the bone of contention hinged around a single issue which is more central to Indian democracy: elections or cricket?
Put that way, the proposition sounds absurd, a confirmation of the view that India is a literally cricket-crazy nation, with an emphasis on the word crazy. Obviously, in a democracy any democracy the political process as represented by polls is and has to be far more important to the scheme of things than a mere sports, even a sport that has achieved the status of a national passion. Such a truism, however, might not be as patently true as it might first seem.
It has been said that the great ongoing mela that is the Indian polity has come to be underwritten by three things: the holding of elections, Bollywood films and songs, and, last but not least, cricket and it's often difficult to say which of these three is the most compelling factor that helps keep us together. Which set of Indians has the most enthusiastic fan following today: Sonia Gandhi/L K Advani; Amitabh Bachchan/Shah Rukh Khan; Rahul Dravid/M S Dhoni? A moot point.
In aspirational and role-model terms, cricketers increasingly seem to cast a stronger spell on the public imagination than political netas certainly, and maybe even film stars. One of the main reasons for this could be that more than elections, or rags-to-riches Bollywood fantasies cricket has come to be identified as part and parcel of the continuing manthan, the great social churning of the Indian cauldron. The rise to stardom of rural or semi-rural lads from obscure backgrounds, youngsters like Virender Sehwag and the Pathan brothers, testifies to the increasing democratisation of what at one time used to be dismissed as an 'elitist' sport. Players such as Sehwag, the Pathan brothers, Dhoni himself, have emerged to borrow a phrase from basketball the real slam-dunk millionaires, inspirational heroes for both slum-dwellers and salon socialites.
Of course Indian cricket is plagued by its own politics, as everything else is in our country. But having said that, the game, in order to ensure spectator interest, not to mention megabuck sponsorships, has to be seen to bear the stamp of meritocracy. Electoral politics, on the other hand, is more and more being shown up to be dynastic and blatantly opportunistic, where merit counts for less than nothing and caste, connections and captive vote banks are everything.
The poll dates, of course, shall not be juggled around for the sake of IPL. But, equally, why juggle around the IPL for the polls? If security personnel are a problem, why not raise a special 'blue helmet' force for the purpose, inducted from IPL-represented countries. All volunteers welcome. Except maybe from Pakistan.
Following the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, high-profile cricket fixtures such as the IPL matches are seen as high-risk terror targets, requiring massive security bandobast. However, with the national elections scheduled for more or less the same time-frame as the IPL events, it was felt there weren't enough security personnel to afford adequate arrangements for both the polls as well as the cricket.
This had put a gloomy question mark on IPL 2009, entailing an enormous loss of revenue for the cricketing fraternity, not to mention the chagrin of diehard fans who swear by the slogan that cricket is their birthright, and they shall have it, no matter what. The resultant controversy had virtually split the country into two: those whose first preference is the electoral process, and those who'd opt for IPL, even if it meant postponing the polls. When you boil it down, the bone of contention hinged around a single issue which is more central to Indian democracy: elections or cricket?
Put that way, the proposition sounds absurd, a confirmation of the view that India is a literally cricket-crazy nation, with an emphasis on the word crazy. Obviously, in a democracy any democracy the political process as represented by polls is and has to be far more important to the scheme of things than a mere sports, even a sport that has achieved the status of a national passion. Such a truism, however, might not be as patently true as it might first seem.
It has been said that the great ongoing mela that is the Indian polity has come to be underwritten by three things: the holding of elections, Bollywood films and songs, and, last but not least, cricket and it's often difficult to say which of these three is the most compelling factor that helps keep us together. Which set of Indians has the most enthusiastic fan following today: Sonia Gandhi/L K Advani; Amitabh Bachchan/Shah Rukh Khan; Rahul Dravid/M S Dhoni? A moot point.
In aspirational and role-model terms, cricketers increasingly seem to cast a stronger spell on the public imagination than political netas certainly, and maybe even film stars. One of the main reasons for this could be that more than elections, or rags-to-riches Bollywood fantasies cricket has come to be identified as part and parcel of the continuing manthan, the great social churning of the Indian cauldron. The rise to stardom of rural or semi-rural lads from obscure backgrounds, youngsters like Virender Sehwag and the Pathan brothers, testifies to the increasing democratisation of what at one time used to be dismissed as an 'elitist' sport. Players such as Sehwag, the Pathan brothers, Dhoni himself, have emerged to borrow a phrase from basketball the real slam-dunk millionaires, inspirational heroes for both slum-dwellers and salon socialites.
Of course Indian cricket is plagued by its own politics, as everything else is in our country. But having said that, the game, in order to ensure spectator interest, not to mention megabuck sponsorships, has to be seen to bear the stamp of meritocracy. Electoral politics, on the other hand, is more and more being shown up to be dynastic and blatantly opportunistic, where merit counts for less than nothing and caste, connections and captive vote banks are everything.
The poll dates, of course, shall not be juggled around for the sake of IPL. But, equally, why juggle around the IPL for the polls? If security personnel are a problem, why not raise a special 'blue helmet' force for the purpose, inducted from IPL-represented countries. All volunteers welcome. Except maybe from Pakistan.
REF- Times of India
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