India’s stubbornness knows no bounds. When it comes to Pakistan, it will do everything in its power to hurt, damage, or inflict loss on the country. Thanks to Narendra Modi and his Hindutva philosophy, that hatred has only increased. Whether it is participation at international forums, sports, or trade, India will always find something to create disturbance or complicate the situation. This is exactly what Modi-led India is doing at the moment.
For the past one year, the staging of the Asia Cup in Pakistan has been a bone of contention for India. It seems as if it is unable to accept that Pakistan could be a host for this major tournament. Pakistan is scheduled to host the Asia Cup in September, but India’s cricket board, the BCCI, has refused to attend the event, citing diplomatic and security reasons. People of both countries are obsessed with cricket, and an India-Pakistan fixture draws massive crowds. The organizers see to it that the match between the two rivals is played on a holiday to enable maximum people to watch the match on the ground. Back in October, the BCCI announced that India would not be traveling to Pakistan to participate in the Asia Cup. This was only to complicate the situation and put Pakistan in a tight spot. The Indian cricket board demanded that their matches be staged at neutral venues.
In reaction, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) demanded that the Pakistan team would also not play in India where the World Cup is being staged a month after the Asia Cup. The board chairman, Najam Sethi, wants his side’s World Cup games moved out of India if they refuse to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup. He made it clear that this behavior on the part of the BCCI would not be accepted. Due to this uncertainty, the schedule and arrangements for the biggest cricket festival have not been announced despite the fact that only six months are left before the tournament begins.
“If India now wants to have a neutral venue and accepts the hybrid model, then we’ll use the same hybrid model in the World Cup,” Mr Sethi said. Just like India has demanded its matches either be held in Oman, Sri Lanka, the UAE, or England, Pakistan wants its team’s matches staged in Bangladesh or any other venue.
On the whole, India just wants to make an issue out of nothing. As far as security is concerned, a number of international teams, including New Zealand and England, have visited Pakistan. As far as diplomatic differences are concerned, it would be better that politics is left aside when it comes to sports or other entertainment activities. One should not forget that a sport brings people together. A sporting activity should not be mixed with politics. A word of advice to the BCCI: don’t look at New Delhi before taking decisions.
The BCCI is headed by Jay Shah, the son of India’s powerful home minister Amit Shah. But Sethi, a former journalist turned cricket administrator, called on the Indian cricket body to “stand up” to New Delhi and insist on being allowed to travel to Pakistan as “it cannot cite security as an issue anymore”. There was no immediate reaction from the BCCI to Sethi’s comments.
