'India not safe for Pakistanis' and the IPL controversy

[Trisonics]

I cheered for Sohail Tanveer when he played from RR....and he has this 'thing' against 'hindus'...I'd say ban him from the IPL forever...!
and any other Pakistani players who think that we Hindus are of "kharab zanyeeyat"!

I so agree, was supporting the Pakistan players all the way but not any more. All this after so many people have put Mumbai behind them and didn't want to mix terrorism with cricket.

 

[EjazR]

www.outlookindia.com | It's Not Cricket

I feel sorry for the people and cricket players of Pakistan. I have no position or great insight into the decision of the IPL bidders but I do feel it’s an example of the world really not wanting to engage with the mess that is Pakistan.
Saba Naqvi

I feel sorry for the people and cricket players of Pakistan. Fact is that the world now has a tough time dealing with a region that has spun out of control. No cricket team wants to play in that country and the brutal attack on Sri Lankan players completely ruled out the possibility of the bravest athlete venturing into that troubled region. And now the Pakistanis are smarting under the decision taken by the managers of IPL teams not to bid for their players. The word is that the owners and managers of the teams just don’t want the possible hassles that the Pakistani players invite. I am told that this includes the following reasons:

* Venues like Mumbai are not welcoming to Pakistanis after 26/11. And there is definitely no chance that a team like Mumbai Indians would bid for a Pakistani player.
* Pakistani players can have visa problems.
* Pakistani players are enormously talented but not disciplined.
* The managers of the IPL are business oriented and simply don’t want any real or imagined hassle that having Pakistani players can involve.

I have no position or great insight into the decision of the IPL bidders but I do feel it’s an example of the world really not wanting to engage with the mess that is Pakistan. I recall a conversation with a well known Australian cricket expert some years ago. He had said that in his view the country with the greatest natural talent for the game is Pakistan even though they have no organized national tournament to spot talent comparable to, even, say the Ranji trophy. Having travelled to Pakistan several times and even to Mianwalli, the region dominated by Pathans from the Niazi tribe from which the cricketing legend Imran Khan hails, I know what he meant by “natural talent”. The men of that region were a good head taller than the average Indian so there is a grain of truth in generalities and stereotypes about why Pakistan produces great fast bowlers and India does not.

Yet let me confess to a great discomfort during my forays into the Pakistani countryside. I had gone to Mianwalli in 1996 with Nawaz Sharif for a day’s campaigning during an election. I was the only woman I spotted out in public without a veil or chador and this is before Pakistan became the hard-line Islamic mess it is today. India may not be the liberated west but it’s certainly easier for all sorts of women to survive here without covering their faces in public. Three years ago I again had a visa that allowed me access to a Pakistan village (as opposed to the city specific visas usually given to Indian journalists). The village I went to was a few hours drive from Lahore so very well connected to the big city. The hospitality was spectacular but again it was the men who were the hosts. No woman came even for the feast laid out for me.

The point I am making is that we may have been one big country before the Partition but today India and Pakistan are very different entities. And it’s not just the geo-political mess that Pakistan is or the failure of democracy in that country. The ethnic stock, social norms, tribal values (and lately religious extremism) make Pakistan a wild west that is not friendly to women except the very well made up and fashionable ladies one meets in the metros. Pakistan certainly has huge problems. But some Pakistanis have a hard time dealing with the reality that their country is a mess.

In the India-Pakistan context this gets tied up with the schizophrenia people of both countries have about each other. I am quite certain that there was also a subtle communal attitude at play in the signal given to IPL managers not to bid for Pakistanis. We certainly have many groups in India ready to abuse Pakistanis. Some residents of the neighbouring country have also responded with some shocking communal stereotyping. Consider this conversation that took place in a TV show titled “A morning with Farah” on ATV, a Pakistan channel and the entire show can be seen on Youtube [4:21 to 4:23]

Sohail Tanvir, who helped the Rajasthan Royals win and got the highest number of wickets in the first IPL is being interviewed by another journalist while the glamorous hostess, Farah, looks on. Consider Tanvir’s remark: “Hinduon ki zahaniyat hi aisi hai (the Hindu nature is like that only)” the implication being that the Hindus have deliberately deceived and humiliated Pakistanis. The journalist responds with a remark about Indians being “baniyas” and says: “bagal meN chhuri/ muuNh meN Ram Ram” (they are ready to plunge a knife behind your back though they will keep saying Ram Ram). The gentleman with this shocking view of Indians in general and Hindus in particular then goes on about how India is tricking Pakistan out of hosting the world cup next year.

Clearly many Pakistanis are in denial about the fact that no one except for the intrepid journalist (such as yours truly) wants to travel to that country.

 

[RobbieS]

Sohail Tanvir, who helped the Rajasthan Royals win and got the highest number of wickets in the first IPL is being interviewed by another journalist while the glamorous hostess, Farah, looks on. Consider Tanvir’s remark: “Hinduon ki zahaniyat hi aisi hai (the Hindu nature is like that only)” the implication being that the Hindus have deliberately deceived and humiliated Pakistanis. The journalist responds with a remark about Indians being “baniyas” and says: “bagal meN chhuri/ muuNh meN Ram Ram” (they are ready to plunge a knife behind your back though they will keep saying Ram Ram). The gentleman with this shocking view of Indians in general and Hindus in particular then goes on about how India is tricking Pakistan out of hosting the world cup next year.

Did he really say that? Shocking! Did he forget that there are Hindus in Pakistan as well?

 

[Jackdaws]

Yea - he indeed said it. I wonder how he actually calls poor Kaneria a "team mate" after that. Imagine the furore if say - a player like say a Virat Kohli would have made such a comment about Muslims.

 

[Awesome]

This will go on for a long time. The uglies have just started.

Dragging religion into cricket when politics is doing a fine job screwing things up, is no good.

 

[mr42O]

He has said what is well known for 100s of yeras. So whats new in it ?

 

[Goodperson]

Yea - he indeed said it. I wonder how he actually calls poor Kaneria a "team mate" after that. Imagine the furore if say - a player like say a Virat Kohli would have made such a comment about Muslims.

Sohail Tanveer will not be welcomed in India for sure.

 

[Hulk]

Sohail Tanvir, who helped the Rajasthan Royals win and got the highest number of wickets in the first IPL is being interviewed by another journalist while the glamorous hostess, Farah, looks on. Consider Tanvir’s remark: “Hinduon ki zahaniyat hi aisi hai (the Hindu nature is like that only)” the implication being that the Hindus have deliberately deceived and humiliated Pakistanis. The journalist responds with a remark about Indians being “baniyas” and says: “bagal meN chhuri/ muuNh meN Ram Ram” (they are ready to plunge a knife behind your back though they will keep saying Ram Ram). The gentleman with this shocking view of Indians in general and Hindus in particular then goes on about how India is tricking Pakistan out of hosting the world cup next year.

Did he really say that? Shocking! Did he forget that there are Hindus in Pakistan as well?

Yes he did, sick minded people, they see everything from the lens of religion.

 

[Hulk]

Sohail Tanveer will not be welcomed in India for sure.

We should make sure he does not earn a single penny from India.

 

[Super Falcon]

No indian Government has given the visas it's an act of "non state actors " (IPL is private after all). Please watch sohail tanvir beating drums of "hindu mentality" for not selecting him this shows he is not in a proper mental condition. I am happy he is not brought in he does not deserve to represent your country throwing baseless remarks shameful guy

even a blind can tell u what IPL BCCI has done it is anti pakistani no matter what u defend facts remain the same and yes i agree with friend for launching ICL but better idea will be bring ZEE group bussiness man money to pakistan and play PPL in Dubai where revenue will come in dihrams and ZEE group is conserned with the money and they will get their revenge for BCCI and taking indian teams in ppl will not be possible becoz bcci will make probleum via ICC becoz any cricket in india bcci is responsible for it and they need approval from BCCI which they will never

 

[Jackdaws]

He has said what is well known for 100s of yeras. So whats new in it ?

LOL - and yet he continues to accept money from them to be their pet poodle - like an animal in a circus. If he has such a problem with the religion of his team-mates, his team owners, his opponents and his umpires - he should not have put his name up. Smacks of double standards. Btw, it was because of prejudices and beliefs like this that South Africa was banned from the ICC for 19 years - perhaps Pakistan should follow next.

 

[Hulk]

even a blind can tell u what IPL BCCI has done it is anti pakistani no matter what u defend facts remain the same and yes i agree with friend for launching ICL but better idea will be bring ZEE group bussiness man money to pakistan and play PPL in Dubai where revenue will come in dihrams and ZEE group is conserned with the money and they will get their revenge for BCCI and taking indian teams in ppl will not be possible becoz bcci will make probleum via ICC becoz any cricket in india bcci is responsible for it and they need approval from BCCI which they will never

You have it right, when your are blind in hatred that's all you see conspiracies all over.

 

[Hutchroy]

This whole Controversy would have been avoided if the PCB and the Pakistani Cricketers had not chased the IPL to give them a chance to Participate even though the 9th December Dead Line had passed :

No bid, no problem​

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” says Clark Gable in Gone with the wind. It’s been voted the No. 1 movie quote of all time by AFI and works for me when I see that no Pakistani has been picked by the IPL franchise owners now marketing completely to the anti-Pakistan market.

It’s much better than Portia’s grumble: “You taught me first to beg, and now methinks you teach me how a beggar should be answered.”

By now you must have realized I am quite into books and movies with inspirational concepts. The reason is that words often shake us and take us into a real world and yank us out of the rut we have gone into simply because we have decided to go with the flow.

By drumming up a near war-mongering fuss over the omission of our cricketers from the IPL supermarket brands, we are admitting we need India, despite all we say about not giving a damn.

And I am sure that when the dust settles down we’ll realise that we made too much of a commotion.

I really can’t understand what all the fuss is about if some of our cricketers were not sold like slaves. I have never really agreed with the thought that sportsmen who have reached the pinnacle should watch themselves being humiliated by having a price tag attached on themselves publicly.

European football clubs do it with grace and respect by talking of player ‘transfers’ in the privacy of their boardrooms. To think that it was cricket that was called a gentleman’s game and football was for the ruffians. I speak this for cricket in the past tense because the Sotheby’s style of auctioneering is not for the human soul. It is for artefacts made by the humans.

So they don’t want us. Big deal. They can have their party to themselves. We can throw a party too. It may not be full of wine, women and dance but that’s not the only way to have fun. Why are we allowing others to define how we want to live?

I understand it is humiliating to be invited to someone’s home and then be sent back from the door. But let’s take a breadth here and break the code to find out what really happened here. That requires a different take, however, and I’ll take it up in my next blog.

Why did they invite us? Well because we chased them to do so. No one was really desperate to have the Pakistani players around last December and there were only cold enquiries to ask if the players were available. Then our very own PCB and government took a long time to process NOCs and the IPL shut the door once the deadline had passed.

Then the players said they wanted to be let in again. We worked the phones, the faxes and the emails and grudgingly Modi allowed our players to stand up for sale.

Please note PCB, players and politicians : The invitations, if they had formally existed at all, had been cancelled on December 9 as the extended deadline for NOCs from Pakistan had come and gone. It had been made clear to us that Modi & Co did not want our players.

The franchisees had prepared themselves to play without them. It was the players who were chasing them.

The franchises had already replaced Pakistan players with other foreign recruits.

In the meantime we kept calling the Indians swindlers for having taken our World Cup away from us. On the political front, the men who matter started blaming the Indians for the bomb blasts and insurgency in Balochistan. Meanwhile Ajmal Kasab claimed he had been kidnapped by RAW and made a patsy for the Mumbai attacks. So why would the franchises take a risk knowing anything could happen before the event begins in spring?

I love Pakistan and want us to be proud of our identity. I want to spend all my energy improving where we live and lift the values of my community and society and fellow Pakistanis. I especially want our cricket to become the benchmark of the world. We should seek self respect, not money avenues.

Sohaib Alvi has been a cricket writer since 1979, and has edited The Cricketer International (UK) Asian Edition. He also has 25 years’ top management experience and now works as a strategic and marketing consultant.

 

[Hammy007]

You have it right, when your are blind in hatred that's all you see conspiracies all over.

excluding pak teams from the champions league, what was that???

 

[Roby]

IPL conduct a disservice to cricket: Indian minister

KARACHI: India said on Monday that non-inclusion of Pakistani players in the third edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) competition was a ‘disservice’ to cricket.

However, Home Minister P. Chidambaram clarified that there was no hint or nudge from the government to influence that decision.

Describing some of the Pakistani cricketers as among the best Twenty20 players, he said: “These players were coming as individuals; it was not a Pakistan team.

“...I think it is disservice to cricket that some of these players were not picked. I don’t know why the IPL teams acted in the manner they acted. But certainly to suggest that there was a hint or nudge from the government is completely untrue,” Mr Chidambaram was quoted as saying in a report carried by Times of India newspaper website.

Asked whether he thought that Pakistan was over-reacting to the issue, he said: “Well, you see, if no player from a country is picked, obviously the country does feel insulted. But whether the reaction is proportionate or not it is not for me to comment.

“But as I said, cricket lovers are disappointed that no player from Pakistan was picked. I think that could have been avoided.”

He also said that personally as a cricket lover he was disappointed over non-inclusion of Pakistani players.

Noting that the government had issued 17 visas to these players, he said: “In fact, I am disappointed that the IPL teams, IPL organisers did not pick any Pakistani player. We gave the visas and we have nothing to do with this.”

Bollywood star and co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders Shah Rukh Khan told a news channel: “I truly believe they (Pakistan players) should have been chosen.”

The actor, however, said that since ‘some issues’ were involved the matter could have been handled by the IPL ‘respectfully’, he said.

Khan said they were the best T20 players in the world. “They are the champions, they are wonderful but somewhere down the line there is an issue and we can’t deny it.”

Khan said it was humiliating to him as a KKR owner that no one offered bid for the Pakistani players despite them being put up for auction.

Khan felt that the youth should circumvent all that was said about India and Pakistan by politicians and say “it (Pakistan) is a great neighbor to have. We are great neighbors. They are good neighbors. Let us love each other.”

“Let me be honest. My family is from Pakistan, my father was born there and his family is from there,” he said.

Separately, India’s former foreign minister Natwar Singh in a news channel interview said that Indian Sports Minister or IPL should apologise to Pakistan over their conduct.