The curious case of a Kashmiri cricketer

By Rajadhyax

Parvez Rasool has not played for India as yet and he is still making headlines in the Indian press – of course, for all the wrong reasons. He is an Under-22 cricketer – a middle order batsman and a useful bowler – and plays for the troubled Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. Recently when two major Champions League T20 matches were scheduled at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bengaluru, the J&K U-22 team reached the venue for their four-day, CK Naidu match scheduled later at the same ground. In a routine check the security forces found traces of RDX, a deadly explosive, in Rasool’s kitbag. As a result Rasool and fellow cricketer Mehrajjudin were detained and questioned by the police. Later both were released due to lack of concrete evidence. No rough treatment or human rights violations were reported by either of the men after their release.

But the whole of J&K is up in arms against the State of Karnataka and as you come to expect nowadays in India, the issue has been politicised. The locals think this is a case of harassment of law abiding citizens. The president of the J&K cricket association, Dr. Farooq Abdullah has clearly taken leave of his senses and brought in reference to “Karnataka state is ruled by the BJP” since in his other, more celebrated, avatar he is a BJP-bashing politician of the country. Someone needs to remind him that as a state association President he is supposed to stick to cricket and its issues. Instead his association has demanded an unconditional apology from Karnataka Police. Irresponsible voices within the militancy torn state have gone to the extent of stating that it could disturb the peace process; now that’s careless over-reaction, folks. After what happened to the Lankan team at Lahore we don’t make nasty assumptions like ‘militants will never hit sportsmen’, do we? (Refer to my earlier article Terrorism: Cricket’s New Challenge”) Let’s get real here and not go over board.

So just picture this: Two very big, televised matches are to be played at a stadium in which major international stars are involved. World media is gathered at the place along with motley celebrities. That is all by itself a huge security mission. Another team lands at the stadium hours before those matches. This team comes from a state known to be a hotbed of militancy, where even lawyers and teachers have been held for subversive activities. One kitbag is found in a check to be containing traces of RDX. The said bag belongs to one player, Parvez Rasool. The players are unable to give a satisfactory explanation of it. So what are the security forces supposed to do? Cock a snook at the incident, pat Rasool on the back and tell him to go ahead, enjoy the match? Oh come on, guys, wake up. Had they done that and the stadium would have erupted in a ball of fire, we all would have collectively rapped the security officers for pathetic work.

These are sensitive times, difficult times. Sporting events are no longer sacrosanct from global terrorism. We need to wake up to the grisly reality of modern terrorism.

If better sense has to prevail, all concerned should say that security forces must do their duty, their job. Cricketer or no cricketer, men under suspicion should be questioned and, if necessary, detained. The law should take its course. Dirty politics should stay away from this. Office bearers in cricket administration must act a little more responsibly. Their statements must reflect a sense of maturity. At least a tiny bit of respect should be shown to the security forces that work tirelessly behind the scenes in high-stress environments to make so many international and national sports events safe or secure. And most importantly, these cricket administrators, most of whom are not formally trained in media management, are advised to take recourse to courts of law if they have to settle any disputes. Media is simply not the best platform to sort out disputes. By its definition media is a place to only express and possibly inflate disputes.

It’s a tough task nowadays to get a cricket event of large proportions completed without any untoward incidents. It is now known through intelligence inputs that militants do eye such events as probable targets. The moment they see a security lapse or weak link, they will hit the target. A security compromise is not merely a compromise in such environs. It’s a recipe for disaster. A very large number of people, spectators, and super talented sportsmen could lose their lives. To avoid it police officers will be vigilant. Admittedly, a few innocents will be put to inconvenience some times. But as long as their human rights are not blatantly violated, they will simply have to bite the lip and bear it. As for Parvez Rasool, he should forget the incident and get on with the game that he loves. Look at the positive side, it’s not as if he was tortured or put on electric bars. Just let the bygones be bygones and show us your cricket. So, play!