In the words of George Orwell, a sport is war minus the shooting. This categorically applies to cricket between India and Pakistan. Since the partition of India in 1947, the two states are, in the words of T V Paul, “enduring rivals”, and have compelled their citizens willingly or non-willingly to accept it. Their rivalry is visible in every field, and cricket, the passionate pastime of the subcontinent, cannot remain untouched by their rivalry. The players are being projected as gladiators fighting for the glory of their respective countries.
India and Pakistan have used cricket diplomacy to iron out their bilateral tensions. In 1987, General Ziaul Haq’s visit to Jaipur to watch an India-Pakistan cricket match eased the tension at the Rajasthan border. Last time the Pakistan cricket team paid a visit to India was during the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government under Atal Behari Vajpayee, who, with the then Pakistan president, General Pervez Musharraf, attempted to improve the bilateral relationship through cricket diplomacy. Cricket teams from the two countries paid a visit to one another. Then, abruptly, things changed and the steps to improve the bilateral relationship were called off. Last time Pakistan played in India was in 2011 in the cricket World Cup. The two governments used the stage to build up a dialogue process. The former prime minister of Pakistan, Yousaf Raza Gilani, was invited to see the match, and his meeting with his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, turned out to be a dividend in the process of dialogue. By inviting the Pakistan cricket team to play matches in India and provide about 5,000 visas to Pakistani fans, the government of India has done another good thing to improve bilateral ties with Pakistan.
This diplomacy has always faced trouble due to its opposition from the rightwing nationalist groups. After the limited war at Kargil, leader of the Shiv Sena, Bal Thackerey, who harbours hateful feelings towards Pakistanis, Indian Muslims and Biharis, warned the government of India against the India-Pakistan matches in Mumbai. After the Mumbai carnage that was carried out by some terrorist group based in Pakistan, people representing the same rigid ideas compelled the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) to expel the Pakistani players and stop them from participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL). For those Indians who think that Pakistanis cannot do anything good for India, Ramchandra Guha, in his book, A Corner of a Foreign Field, writes that in the 1999 World Cup when India was playing against England, it was an umpire from Pakistan whose two crucial mistakes made it possible for India to move ahead.
India-Pakistan cricket nationalism has inebriated the majority of Indians and Pakistanis. The matches act as a litmus test to prove one’s ‘loyalty’ to one’s country. There are places in India where the majority keeps an eye on the behaviour of the minority communities during the India-Pakistan cricket matches. Crucial cricket encounters between India and Pakistan have sometimes, at some places, even led to clashes between the two communities. Even if one does not like cricket, he or she has to clap when Sachin Tendulkar hits a boundary and has to express sadness when Mohammad Hafiz or Umar Gul take a wicket. In addition, an India-Pakistan match acts as a tool to showcase one’s political ideas. In the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, one of the most progressive campuses in India, a handful of students from the Kashmir Valley, during India-Pakistan cricket matches, publicly bat for Pakistan. Their behaviour is being inspired by the situation in the Kashmir Valley. It always creates tension and provokes spats due to the massive presence of students from the Hindi heartland, which forms the ‘core’ of India.
Even cricketers have not remained aloof from the overly fierce feeling of competition between the two countries; after all is said and done, they come from a society that grooms them to think in a certain way. Through their actions and words, the players end up getting people charged in an emotional manner. After the first 20-20 World Cup final in South Africa between India and Pakistan, during the presentation ceremony, the Pakistani captain, Shoaib Malik, thanked Muslims of the world for their support to his team. Ironically, in that match, the man who destroyed their batting line up was an Indian Muslim, Irfan Pathan. Thus, comparing a cricket match with India to a battle and terming it as jihad has destroyed the spirit of the game. These things are not good for the future of the game. Cricketers must know that they are professionals and sportsmen. Their job is to play the game they have chosen. Although they represent their respective country, they are also ambassadors of the game they play.
Finally, in December 2012, 22 men from India and Pakistan will fight in the field and 22 million plus from both sides will cheer for their gladiators. In this gladiatorial fight, as representative of the mango man (common man), from both sides of the border, I do not have time to know the score or cheer for M S Dhoni or Mohammad Hafiz’s men because my belly is empty. I need a job to buy myself a meal.
The writer is an assistant professor (guest) at the Delhi University, New Delhi. He can be reached at [email protected]