The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s decision to instruct Kolkata knight Riders(KKR) to relieve Bangladesh’s ace bowler Mustafizur Rahman goes down in history as an unwarranted one. India’s soft power in South Asia has been weakened with this decision to weaponise cricket to score browny political points.
Mustafizur Rahman is not just a good cricketer. He is a celebrity. He is arguably the most loved cricketer in Bangladesh. A mild mannered pacer with a tranquil face is one of the most respected sportspersons in that country. Even when MS Dhoni tried to bump him off during an ODI match in Mirpur, he did not respond. He only avoided Dhoni’s gaze and walked back to his run-up mark. Mustafizur is not a person to quarrel. He is not responsible for the political developments in his country. He is peace loving and unassuming. Insulting such a lovable person was not acceptable to Bangladesh and its cricket establishment.
Mustafizur played in 2016 for Sunrisers, Hyderabad, in IPL, for Rs. 1.40 crore. He was purchased by KKR for Rs. 9.20crore a decade later when he commanded a decent fee. He was the most successful Bangladesh bowler who took 405 T20 wickets so far at the rate of 7.43 runs. When their player represents Kolkata, it becomes a personal equation to Bangladeshis. Language, culture and shared history make Kolkata connected to Bangladesh. Removing him from such a team would cause emotional rupture to Bangladesh cricketing fraternity.
Geopolitics and the Fall of the Hasina Regime
We already have a bitter experience with Pakistan. Nearly a generation of Pakistanis have grown up without seeing Indian cricketers like Rohit Sharm and Virat Kohli play in their country. While there are enough valid reasons to have enmity with Pakistan, there is no such problem with Bangladesh. At least, not yet. True, the relations with Bangladesh have got deteriorated for more than one year since Sheik Hasina was ousted as a result of students’ rebellion and she was forced to take asylum in India. Some six Hindus have been killed out of hate in Bangladesh in the last two weeks. Though the treatment of minority Hindus in Bangladesh is inhuman, it cannot be said the government there is encouraging such blatant attitude.
The government headed by Nobel Laureate Yunus Mohammad has been acting against the perpetrators of crime. It has been making fervent appleas to Bangladeshis not to attack minorities. The authorities in Bangladesh are already unhappy with India for giving shelter to Sheik Hasina. There have been repeated pleas to handover the former prime minister to Dhaka. One can appreciate the stand of Modi government in refusing to send Hasina to Bangladesh only to be executed since the courts there have already pronounced her guilty. However, asking the KKR to relieve Mustafizur appears to be unwarranted and provocative.
Escalation and the T20 World Cup Boycott
As expected, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has acted with alacrity and decided not to travel to India, the host country, for playing the T20 World Cup matches. The interim government headed by Yunus is solidly behind the BOB in its decision. With less than one month left for the matches to start, the ICC has little time to negotiate with Sri Lankan authorities. Indian leadership is considered weak when it was confronted by a mighty power like the US when the former shows a lot of restraint. But when there has a problem with weaker neighbour like Bangladesh India reacts aggressively making it appear intimidating. There is already a feeling in Bangladesh that it has been treated like a slave by India. One of the cricket administrators commented that his country would not be a slave any longer.
Consistency in Sports Diplomacy
On the other hand, India has been behaving in a positive way with Afghanistan. During war and political upheavals, India’s cricket authorities have been cooperating with Afghanistan cricket showing as an example to the world that cricket could be kept away from politics. BCCI is a corporate behemoth with a lot of financial muscle. It can afford to help countries like Afghanistan and Bangladesh. In South Asia cricket boards play vital role in building relationships between countries along with political establishments. Cricket, along with cinema and other cultural forms, is supposed to be a soft power which can solve problems political power cannot tackle. It does not mean that we have to be lenient to Bangladesh or any other neighbour. We should not be seen a big brother foisting our decisions on others and reacting strongly when the others respond.
Diplomacy or Hostility?
All said and done, sending Mustafizur Rahman home from KKR will have negative impact on Indo-Bangladesh relations. This decision by India will further aggravate the attitude of Bangladesh Muslims towards the Hindu minorities. We are only making a permanent enemy in Bangladesh by acting in an intimidating way. We are already being sparred every day on one issue or the other by Pakistan in the west. Should we create another enemy on the eastern side too? Instead of resolving the issue which is already creating bad blood, should we deliberately create another issue? Is it a good diplomacy?
Prominent Journalist
Dr. K. Ramachandra Murthy is a versatile journalist with a distinguished career. Dr. Murthy began his extensive career with Andhra Prabha of The Indian Express group in Bengaluru. He was editor of Udayam, Vaartha and Andhra Jyothy. Dr. Murthy founded and edited HMTV news channel and The Hans India, an English newspaper. He was also editorial director of the Telugu newspaper, Saakshi. He was awarded Ph. D for his research work in rural reporting. Dr. Murthy’s five decades in journalism showcases his influential roles across both print and electronic media. He wrote the political biography of NTR published by Harper Collins.
Mustafizur Rehman is playing in IPL matches and he has to behave like any one else.
Bangladesh has forgotten on whose support it was actually formed. One should remember their hatred towards us when their countrymen hold placards of heads of Kohli & Rohit when they won one match against us.
We are peace loving nation but when it comes to atrocities of Hindus in Bangladesh we should use all available channels.
Even if they boycott playing in India it’s welcome, it hurts BCB more than BCCI.
We went inside and broke down terror camps inside Pakistan which is a Nuclear Power. Bangladesh has to learn, that if it acts and supports Terror acts inside India the kind of lesson they get will be humongous.