THE IPL CASINO

THE IPL CASINO

Written by

DR. S. Ausaf Saied Vasfi

Published on

August 11, 2022

DR. S. AUSAF SAIED VASFI discusses the corrupt practices which have become endemic to every sector of our national life.

You must have certainly heard a story, thrilling for many, which said: There was a ferocious dacoit, who, sporting awesome moustaches, was very kind to the village-folk, particularly the older ones. He would, in addition to dispensing justice to the aggrieved, graciously distribute his loot among the needy. He would pay debts of the indebted and arrange marriages of the village girls of marriageable age. He would also pay school fees of the boys.

Exactly the same story is being regularly retold today in the newspaper columns, pleading the case of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Not only opinion pieces but editorials have also been done on the subject.

The other side of the picture is that the combined Opposition has demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the murk. The situation, the truth is, is grave enough to warrant such an enquiry with the instructions that the probe report should be available within a given period of time. The rumours resembling with the news allege massive match-fixings, huge tax evasion and use of the IPL for pocketing money, instead of entertaining cricket lovers. The volume of slush can be imagined from the fact that $80 million was reportedly paid by Mr Lalit Modi to multimedia as facilitation fee.

However, it is worth noting that this time the Cong-led UPA dispensation made a departure from its age-old tradition playing down the charges against its corrupts, as it did, not long ago with Mr N.D. Tiwari, who was allegedly caught on camera with pants down. The reason behind the said departure is not total uprightness, but political compulsion, particularly the debate on money bill. The Left and the Right had declared a combined onslaught while the non-Left and non-Right parties had threatened with cut motions on oil bill.

 

DUBIOUS SOURCES

What completed the circle was the reported inflow and routes of tainted funds into T-20 and its teams, the dubious and opaque stake holding patterns in its franchisees and above all, the question of betting and money laundering rackets involved in the game. To quote the Union Finance Minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee: “The concerned department has already started the investigation process. All aspects including sources of funding and routs through which the funds arrive would be looked into. Appropriate action as per the law would be taken. No guilty or wrong doer would be spared.”

What is being openly said now in New Delhi is that dubious sources are Virgin Islands, Mauritius and Dubai, while black money in Swiss Banks is being laundered into white money through caricature of commercialised cricket.

What had been left unsaid has been said by the Sports and Youth Minister Mr M.S. Gill: “Over the past 10/15 years, the BCCI had suddenly got very rich and the ministry had been very passive throughout this period. In the passivity of the ministry, they have implicitly taken over all that is related to cricket. There was a conflict of interest with the BCCI playing regulator, rule maker and also owner at times. It was well known that prominent people in the BCCI are also owners of the teams. There was no case for tax exemption to the BCCI.”

Look at these graver charges from the angle of ground reality, the fact that the Congress-led government is currently skating on a thinner ice. This ground reality is bound to cast a shadow on the centre of gravity of Congress which has already been shaken by Ms Sunanda Pushkar’s sweat (free) equity worth Rs 70 crore.

 

DISASTER

A self invited disaster was waiting in the wings to politically cripple Mr Shashi Tharoor from the very beginning. First he, contrary to the Congress tradition, started living in a 5-Star hotel suite, costing him personally Rs 40,000 a day. By his “cattle class” remark he offended the memory of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Mr. Tharoor had no business to say that the Sharm-al-Sheikh agreement was not legally binding. Similarly, he had no business to suggest that Saudi Arabia play the role of an interlocutor between New Delhi and Islamabad on Kashmir. Visa guidelines were avoidably criticised by the ebullient minister. All this is definitely tantamount to ministerial misconduct.

There is a visible but uncomfortable similarity between the dacoit of the yore and the IPL of the day. There is little difference between the inflow of the income of the two. Both monies are dirt as they have been “earned” through illegal and immoral strategies.

Distributing squallier for noble purposes like education for children passes our understanding as sincerely suggested by a 1,500-word article in The Hindu (April 23) done by Mr. Prabhudev Konana, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. The English daily edit also supports the idea. Earlier the Times of India had also supported the case of legalising gambling: “By legalising gambling and bringing it above ground the government can begin to reverse the process, breaking the monopoly of the cartels and turning black money into white that can be taxed.”

For a proper appreciation of our standpoint, think of a scenario of disaster caused by an earthquake. Nobody is prepared to help the victims with as much resources as are required for starting life once again. So some good Samaritans come out with the bright idea of a gala night, attended by the rich who, amidst drinks, would rub shoulders with the Bollywood actors and actresses and have good time. The big money created by the night long entertainment would be distributed among the quake hit to start their life afresh.

If that is the line of reasoning, what is objectionable in the earnings of the prostitutes?

The argument of legalising gambling, we are afraid, would take us to the threshold of the gays and lesbians, or Pompeii in other words.