The ongoing Australian tour of Indian cricket team would be remembered in the history of Indian sports forever. Exactly, not only for the India’s victory over the World Champion Australia and for controversy arose between the BCCI and Cricket Australia on the issue of alleged racial comment by Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh. But certainly there are some other memorable events and happening of Australia, which have been registered in the history of game. These would be remembered by all fans of sport everlastingly.
There is no doubt that the current tour of Team India would be remembered evermore by all that the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the removal of Steve Buckner from the Test series. Buckner, who holds a strong position in the elite panel of Umpires of ICC, was excluded from the Perth Test match. Certainly it happened due to strong confrontation by the Indian cricket management. It is considered that there was heavy pressure put up by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which propelled the ICC to reach at this decision.
The Indian media and foreign media both said strong capital holding of BCCI was the main reason behind this decision. Certainly, India holds 70 percent of the total revenue generated from the game of Cricket all over the world. So, it’s quit natural that by giving a threat to withdraw the ongoing tour of Team India to the world’s smallest continent made a headache for the ICC.
This tour would be remembered for another reason. The Indian management withdrew a case against the Australian player Hogg. It was earlier filed by the management in a strong reaction of a petition filed by the Cricket Australia for a racial comment by Harbhajan Singh to Andrew Symonds. India’s stand to withdraw the case has been highly appreciated by the international community. It sent a message that how bigger India’s heart is. Really it was a major decision for India and consequently it showed its greatness. This initiative also showed that India has a sport spirit.
Of course, India made a history by winning the Perth Test. This victory is being considered as a landmark in the Indian cricket history. “It is one of the best victory of my life”, said Indian skipper Anil Kumble after Indian victory.
Perth’s pitch is regarded as the fastest pitch of the world. Additionally, this ground is also considered as the safest fort for Australian team. But India proved that it can challenge the three times World Champion at its own ground.
By this victory India just stopped Australia to make a history of 17th consecutive win once again. Earlier, it was the pitch of Eden Garden Stadium of Kolkata in the year of 2002, when India ruined the Australian dream to become the first Team in the World to make a history of seventeen consecutive win.
Another sweet memory of the ongoing tour is the achievement of Kumble. The Great Indian Spinner became the first Indian to take six hundred wickets in the Test cricket.
An extra point of sweet memory with this tour is related with master blaster Sachin Tendulakar. After such a long time Sachin made a century at the ground of Australia. Actually, he was suffering from a series of nervous ninety for a long time. But Australia became lucky for Sachin and he played a fine game.
For the first time, Australian team is facing so much criticism from domestic media. Many experts have clearly commented that Australia has no more supremacy over the game.
At last it may be said that it does not matter that whether India wins the series in Australia or not. What matters is that there are so many memories associated with this tour, which will remain with us without end.
First Published at
MSN India
January 23, 2008
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Thursday, 24 January 2008
Wednesday, 23 January 2008
We Are Pluralists !
The recent controversy over the issue of stay of famous laureate Salman Rushdie at the residence of Godrej family in Mumbai can not be termed as a characteristic of a plural society like India. The world class writer is now facing a new controversy. Although controversy and Rushdie have a good relations always but this time it is not due to his writing or girlfriend but for staying at the house of his friend in Mumbai.
The All India Ulema Council has warned the Mumbai based top industrialist Adi Godrej to apologize for hosting the controversial writer. Maulana Mehmood Daryabadi, general secretary of Council has made a statement openly that Muslim community should boycott all the products of Godrej Company if Godrej fails to apologize on the issue. According to Daryabadi, the businessman has not cared about the sentiments of the Muslim community living in the country.
It is known to all that in the year of 1989 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the then supreme religious leader of Iran pronounced a fatwa (religious edict) against Rushdie, which called on Muslims to kill him for his novel “The Satanic Verses”.
It was the blessings of Queen Elizabeth and her government that the writer got a safe place to live in the United Kingdom. Again Rushdie became controversial, when he was awarded for a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth. This again angered the Iran and Pakistan.
Apart from Rushdie there is another controversial Muslim writer, who was also in the mainline media recently. This is none other that famous Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen. The presence of exiled writer in India has sparked riots by Muslims offended by her books and controversial statements. She has been forced to live in a secret security facility in New Delhi. Earlier, she was living in Kolkata. It is a fact that wherever she goes for her speeches or readings of her poems or novel, Muslims have protested. Be it Bhopal or Hyderabad.
The basic issue is how much we are tolerable? These happenings ask that is it the real characteristic of a plural Indian society?
We have a culture of “Atithi Devo Bhava” for a long time. The Indian society has always given due respect to its all guests. Why not in current time? Why people are going to issue such a warning against our own people.
More importantly, Rushdie was born in Mumbai and he has spent his earlier days in the city. Likewise, many Bangladeshi migrants are living in India with full citizenship status then why people think in some other ways for these intellectuals.
One point, which is worth to mention here is the issue of Muslims of different countries. The question is whether the Muslims of Britain different from the Muslims living in India, Pakistan or Iran are different. After all they all are Muslims and follow the similar teachings of Prophet Muhammad and also the same Allah and Quoran.
And if the Muslim community along with others in the United Kingdom can live together with such a controversial writer then why not the Muslims of India, Pakistan, Iran or any other nation. After all, we have a long culture of pluralistic society.
Published in
The Central Chronicle, Bhopal
January 21, 2008
The All India Ulema Council has warned the Mumbai based top industrialist Adi Godrej to apologize for hosting the controversial writer. Maulana Mehmood Daryabadi, general secretary of Council has made a statement openly that Muslim community should boycott all the products of Godrej Company if Godrej fails to apologize on the issue. According to Daryabadi, the businessman has not cared about the sentiments of the Muslim community living in the country.
It is known to all that in the year of 1989 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the then supreme religious leader of Iran pronounced a fatwa (religious edict) against Rushdie, which called on Muslims to kill him for his novel “The Satanic Verses”.
It was the blessings of Queen Elizabeth and her government that the writer got a safe place to live in the United Kingdom. Again Rushdie became controversial, when he was awarded for a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth. This again angered the Iran and Pakistan.
Apart from Rushdie there is another controversial Muslim writer, who was also in the mainline media recently. This is none other that famous Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen. The presence of exiled writer in India has sparked riots by Muslims offended by her books and controversial statements. She has been forced to live in a secret security facility in New Delhi. Earlier, she was living in Kolkata. It is a fact that wherever she goes for her speeches or readings of her poems or novel, Muslims have protested. Be it Bhopal or Hyderabad.
The basic issue is how much we are tolerable? These happenings ask that is it the real characteristic of a plural Indian society?
We have a culture of “Atithi Devo Bhava” for a long time. The Indian society has always given due respect to its all guests. Why not in current time? Why people are going to issue such a warning against our own people.
More importantly, Rushdie was born in Mumbai and he has spent his earlier days in the city. Likewise, many Bangladeshi migrants are living in India with full citizenship status then why people think in some other ways for these intellectuals.
One point, which is worth to mention here is the issue of Muslims of different countries. The question is whether the Muslims of Britain different from the Muslims living in India, Pakistan or Iran are different. After all they all are Muslims and follow the similar teachings of Prophet Muhammad and also the same Allah and Quoran.
And if the Muslim community along with others in the United Kingdom can live together with such a controversial writer then why not the Muslims of India, Pakistan, Iran or any other nation. After all, we have a long culture of pluralistic society.
Published in
The Central Chronicle, Bhopal
January 21, 2008
And The Bharat Ratna Goes To...
The current controversy among the different political parties of India on the issue of Bharat Ratna shows that how much our political leaders are aware about the image of the highest civilian award of the nation. Firstly, the letter of Lal Krishna Advani, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, to recommend the name of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for the Bharat Ratna was an unusual way of recommendation.
According to the norms a high level committee decides that who should be conferred with the highest civilian award of the nation. This high level committee comprises the leader of opposition as a member with other members. So, the recommendation of A B Vajpayee by L K Advani is not an explicable step.
If a member of selection committee recommends a person and more importantly before the national media the trustworthiness of the selection committee itself comes under the suspicion. Generally, the names for the Bharat Ratna are announced on the eve of the Republic Day. For the last six years this award has been not conferred to any one. Noted playback singer Lata Mangeshkar and Shahnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan were the last persons, who were conferred with this highly prestigious award in the year of 2001.
It is expected that Advani’s remark that Vajpayee has a great contribution in the politics of the nation and that he has successfully handled a coalition government of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) was aimed to get the favour of the highest regarded leader of the party. Moreover, it will also strengthen the candidature of Advani as the Prime Minister among the party workers by winning the hearts of the soft-liner of the organization.
On the other hand, apart from BJP all other political parties started to suggest a name for the award. Some leaders like Rambilas Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) have suggested three names- Jotiba Phule, Jagjivanram and famous singer Mohammad Rafi. Similarly, former Bihar Chief Minister and the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav has also suggested the name of former Bihar Chief Minister Karpuri Thakur. Earlier he has given his consent on the name of veteran left leader Jyoti Basu for the same.
The campaign for name suggestion does not end here. Ajit Singh of Rashtriya Lok Dal demanded Bharat Ratna for his father and former Prime Minister Devi Lal. Chandrashekhar’s name is also in the race. Further Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms Mayawati has also demanded the Ratna for Kanshiram, founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and a great dalit thinker. Southern leader M. Karunanidhi’s name is also in the wish list.
It has been alleged by the different political parties that only congress leaders are not entitled to receive the prestigious award. In the past, many national leaders, who hail from the Congress Party, have been awarded with Ratna. In history, there are two Prime Ministers namely Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, who were conferred with the Bharat Ratna by their own signature.
Meanwhile, against the backdrop of various names being suggested for Bharat Ratna, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said there is still time to take a decision on the issue. Now the time will tell us who will be conferred with the highest civilian award of the nation. But one thing is very clear here that politicization of such issue makes no sense and importantly the dignity and credibility of the award looses among the common people.
Thank God, till now our political leaders are not interested at the global level regarding the conferment of awards. But, no one knows the political parties of India may begin lobbying for the Nobel Prize for their leaders.
Published
MSN India
January 19, 2008
According to the norms a high level committee decides that who should be conferred with the highest civilian award of the nation. This high level committee comprises the leader of opposition as a member with other members. So, the recommendation of A B Vajpayee by L K Advani is not an explicable step.
If a member of selection committee recommends a person and more importantly before the national media the trustworthiness of the selection committee itself comes under the suspicion. Generally, the names for the Bharat Ratna are announced on the eve of the Republic Day. For the last six years this award has been not conferred to any one. Noted playback singer Lata Mangeshkar and Shahnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan were the last persons, who were conferred with this highly prestigious award in the year of 2001.
It is expected that Advani’s remark that Vajpayee has a great contribution in the politics of the nation and that he has successfully handled a coalition government of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) was aimed to get the favour of the highest regarded leader of the party. Moreover, it will also strengthen the candidature of Advani as the Prime Minister among the party workers by winning the hearts of the soft-liner of the organization.
On the other hand, apart from BJP all other political parties started to suggest a name for the award. Some leaders like Rambilas Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) have suggested three names- Jotiba Phule, Jagjivanram and famous singer Mohammad Rafi. Similarly, former Bihar Chief Minister and the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav has also suggested the name of former Bihar Chief Minister Karpuri Thakur. Earlier he has given his consent on the name of veteran left leader Jyoti Basu for the same.
The campaign for name suggestion does not end here. Ajit Singh of Rashtriya Lok Dal demanded Bharat Ratna for his father and former Prime Minister Devi Lal. Chandrashekhar’s name is also in the race. Further Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms Mayawati has also demanded the Ratna for Kanshiram, founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and a great dalit thinker. Southern leader M. Karunanidhi’s name is also in the wish list.
It has been alleged by the different political parties that only congress leaders are not entitled to receive the prestigious award. In the past, many national leaders, who hail from the Congress Party, have been awarded with Ratna. In history, there are two Prime Ministers namely Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, who were conferred with the Bharat Ratna by their own signature.
Meanwhile, against the backdrop of various names being suggested for Bharat Ratna, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said there is still time to take a decision on the issue. Now the time will tell us who will be conferred with the highest civilian award of the nation. But one thing is very clear here that politicization of such issue makes no sense and importantly the dignity and credibility of the award looses among the common people.
Thank God, till now our political leaders are not interested at the global level regarding the conferment of awards. But, no one knows the political parties of India may begin lobbying for the Nobel Prize for their leaders.
Published
MSN India
January 19, 2008
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