SOROOR AHMED criticises the conduct of two leading sportspersons who showed disrespect to President of India and brought a bad name to the sports world.
How much legally appropriate the action was is for the court to decide but the behaviour of the two Indian cricket stars was criminally discourteous. Even if it was not a function to honour them with Padma Shri Award they should have kept the promise rather than remaining busy in recording promos for certain products.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, to quote a lawyer of Muzaffarpur in Bihar, who filed a criminal case against them, intentionally lowered the prestige of President of India, the Constitution of the country, sports lovers and artistes by skipping such an occasion which was especially organized for them. Whether Sudheer Kumar Ojha, the lawyer, is legally right or not in demanding that the two stars be booked under Sections 499 (Defamation), 503 (Criminal Intimidation) and 504 (Intentional Insult with Intent to Provoke) one thing is clear: our corporate bosses and cricketers have become too big for their boots. They not only nurse contempt for the law of the land but for all the social and ethical norms. That they can skip a function in which the President of the country, Pratibha Patil, is to honour them is itself shocking.
But more than these two young cricketers on the pinnacle of their career it is our big business houses, who are responsible for such indecent behaviour. They kept the two engaged for their own business interest. Can this behaviour be expected from any player anywhere in the world? Those who have held the cricket to ransom need to be taken to task.
These corporate bosses first ridiculed the Union government and the Election Commission, when they refused to provide security for the Indian Premier League matches because of elections, then they tried to politicise it by seeking the help of rabble rouser Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat. Along with the columnists like Swapan Dasgupta they all chorused that the shifting of IPL matches brought shame to India. But what about this incident? Has it increased our national pride and prestige?
That cricket in India has become worship of goddess of wealth is no new development. What is surprising is the defiance of the basic etiquette and values of sports by these small players playing into the hands of big financial players. They think that they are above everything.
They cannot postpone business promotion programme for the sake of attending a function graced by the President of the country.
Last year, when Vijay Mallaya’s team performed poorly in the IPL matches, its captain, Rahul Dravid, a highly respected name in the international cricket, was rebuked by this liquor baron. Never in the history of the country, or any other country of the world, a player or captain is chided by the President or the Prime Minister of the country for playing poorly. And if any President or PM ever dares to speak out anything against the defeat of the team the wielder of pens in the media would blast him/her severely. But none could criticise Mallaya. They certainly do not want to lose money. This is the stark reality, unacknowledged and tragic.