Sports, dance and music have nothing to do with national or international politics, and one must keep sports away from politics. These sentiments were expressed by none other than the BJP’s top political mind, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in 1998, after the Shiv Sena, a Hindutva-based right-wing political party, led by Bal Thackeray, threatened to prevent the Pakistani team from visiting India. They even damaged the cricket ground, but Vajpayee welcomed the bold initiative taken by then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to send the team as per schedule. Even Sharif’s arch political rival in the country, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, praised the decision.
Times have changed, and so have politics. Over time, the most popular sports, such as cricket, became “hostage” to the hard-line political narrative of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His approach to sports or sportsmanship is very different from that of his predecessors, even though the party itself included leaders such as Vajpayee. Even someone like BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani welcomed Pakistan’s decision.
Today, India has politicized even non-political projects such as sports, music and cultural exchanges. Cricket, being the most popular sport in both India and Pakistan and with over a billion people on both sides who love to see the two teams play each other on their home soil, has become a hostage of the “negative narrative”. As a result, India has refused to send its team to Pakistan, even for the Champions Trophy, and it is also uncertain whether the team’s captain, Rohit Sharma, will be allowed to visit Lahore to take a group photo with the captains of all the participating teams. Something completely against the spirit of the game.
Interestingly, the two teams and players still maintain friendly relations, and are generally disappointed, believing that if the two teams can play on a “neutral field,” why can’t they play in front of their own people?
The 1999 tour was one of the most successful, both from a cricketing and spectators’ perspective, besides generating huge revenues of course.
Although the full tour took place 11 years later, the Pakistani team visited India in 1997 to celebrate its golden jubilee. In contrast, India visited Pakistan for three one-day international matches.
In 2018, former Prime Minister Imran Khan invited legendary Indian cricketers Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and popular cricketer-turned-media personality Navjot Singh Sidhu to attend his inauguration ceremony. While only Sidhu attended the occasion, the other two, due to their prior commitments, were unable to extend congratulations to Khan on becoming Prime Minister. The Indian cricket team also sent ‘autographed’ cricket bats as a goodwill message.
Those were the days when political reason prevailed, despite tensions, allegations and counter-allegations.
But it never affected the tours of cricket and hockey teams, and even kabaddi teams visited both countries. People-to-people contacts were also restored, along with visits by poets, artists, intellectuals, and even track-two diplomacy on the political front.
So, what really went wrong? Well, “sport has merged with politics”, especially cricket. It is unfortunate that the hardline approach adopted by India is not limited to sports only, but also to all these bonds that unite the people and bring a form of rationality to more than a billion people in both countries.
Once upon a time, Pakistan and India co-hosted the FIFA World Cup in 1987, and today India has refused to play in Pakistan, even in the ICC Champions Trophy, without giving any reason. It is unfortunate, as the Indian cricketers have not faced any threat in the past and their previous outings have ended without any issues.
The BJP under Prime Minister Modi, who is enjoying a second term, has linked “cricket ties” to politics, although neither the Indian Cricket Board nor the players themselves have ever expressed reservations. The two cricket boards and players enjoy a cordial relationship.
In the past few months, we have witnessed how the Indian government prevented its team from visiting Pakistan to participate in the Champions Cup scheduled to start next month. But they agreed to play on neutral ground – Dubai – and the championship match will be held on February 23.
If Indian media reports are correct, India has also refused to send its captain, Rohit Sharma, on a short visit to Lahore to take a ‘group photo’ of the captains of all participating teams. The least that can be said is that this kind of “negative attitude” is not only harmful to the sport in general, but also to a high-level tournament organized by the ICC in particular. The million-dollar question is: Will the ICC remain a silent spectator? It also means that Pakistan will not visit India for next year’s World Cup, and the two teams will once again play on a neutral field.
Pakistan will also not tour India for next year’s World Cup, and the same neutral-court formula will be applied even then. Unfortunately, the ICC’s approach is questionable, as it has in effect taken away the spirit behind the sport. They should have taken a stand, because this was not a binary series.
Well-known Indian journalist and author, Saba Naqvi, in her latest book, Saffron Storm: From Vajpayee to Modi, has traced the history of India’s most popular and controversial party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the changing political scenario since then. Modi’s hardliner Her in-depth study also reveals how politics influences the Indian media.
So the saffron storm facing the BJP is not just about ideology: it is also about the ruthless use of power to deny critics and opponents an equal battlefield. The storm is built on the power of money and carried out through police power, while the reshaping of national consciousness is carried out with the help of highly sectarian media.
Relations between the two “hostile neighbours” have remained tense over the past seven decades, but did not reach this point under Prime Minister Modi. The unfortunate part is that the opportunity under his government to improve relations between the two countries has become non-existent. Even sports, music, theatre, culture, and the exchange of visits between different sectors of society have become “hostage” to anti-popular rhetoric. People in both countries love to see them play against each other on their home soil.
Sports bring people together, as does a positive political approach. In the end, it is the people that matter, and democracy is about “the will of the people.” But unfortunately, it is the opposite in present-day India under Modi ji.
The writer is an analyst and columnist for GEO, The News, and Jang.
Tenth: @MazharAbbasGEO
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Geo.tv.