Don’t mix politics with sport, Congress tells Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has a penchant for mixing politics with sports. In the past, his party had often targeted Pakistani cricket teams, trying to stop it from playing matches in India. Once a pitch was dug up by Sena hooligans to prevent play.

Now he has taken up the cases of recent attacks on Indian students in Australia, warning that his party would not permit the Australian cricket team to play in Mumbai or in Maharashtra.

Thackeray’s statement was made in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamna’. Thackeray commented that self-respect or national pride seemed to be missing among the Indian players these days. “Our boys are being stabbed, burnt and shot at in that country (Australia) and still our cricketers have no qualms about playing with that country’s cricketers,” Thackeray said.

While the Sena ally, the BJP refrained from any comment, the Congress has rejected Thackeray’s criticism of India maintaining cricketing ties with Australia, saying that linking sports with the attacks would reduce the gravity of the issue. Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said incidents of attacks on Indian students in Australia were a very serious matter, and linking it with sports would dilute the gravity of the issue. He pointed out the government had strongly expressed its concern over the attacks and told Australia that such incidents would adversely impact bilateral ties.

Ahmed also pointed out that India was hosting the Commonwealth Games this year and media reports have suggested that Australia was planning to send a big contingent. Any break in sporting ties by India at this juncture could lead to a similar action by Australia.

Asked about the break in India-Pakistan cricketing ties after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, he said State actors were involved in sponsoring terrorism from the neighbouring country, but there was no allegation of this nature in the case of attacks on Indian students and workers in Australia.

- Asian Tribune -