International Cricket Council

Aleem Dar

Indian umpires

Shahryar Khan

BCCI

PCB chief

GROWING INTOLERANCE

Pranab slams rising intolerance

With talks disrupted, thewithdrewfrom the ongoing India-SA series. The matches will be supervised byWith the first leg of his India visit ending in disaster,has cut short his stay in Mumbai and dashed off to Delhi to retrieve the perennially-troubled India-Pakistan series.After Shiv Sena workers disrupted his scheduled talks with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Shashank Manohar by attackingoffices on Monday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, along with a couple of colleagues, rushed to Delhi to meet Arun Jaitley, the most influential man in Indian cricket.The chances of a revival of the series, however, have now effectively vanished and BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said so in as many words.‘‘The BCCI and PCB have some outstanding issues, and thewanted to meet the BCCI president to discuss those things. But those have been cancelled now," Thakur told reporters in New Delhi, virtually ruling out an India-Pakistan series in December.Khan, along with Najam Sethi (the head of proposed Pakistan Super League), and Subhan Ahmed (PCB CEO), checked in to a city hotel on Sunday night and were scheduled to hold parleys with Manohar in the BCCI office on Monday morning. Sethi even told this paper on Sunday night that the PCB entourage was confident of a positive outcome from the talks. But with Sena workers storming the board office in the morning, the talks were instantly stymied. At 4pm on Sunday, all PCB officials checked out of the hotel.The PCB officials, it is understood, came calling with a host of proposals. They were willing to play the series in India if the BCCI had reservations with Ten Sports broadcasting the matches. In that case, the television rights would have gone to Star and the PCB was willing to discuss a revenue-sharing arrangement. The PCB also wanted to request the BCCI to allow Indian players in the PSL and explore Indian promoters picking up franchises in the PSL, the Pakistan’s version of the IPL.With talks disrupted, the International Cricket Council withdrew Aleem Dar from the ongoing India- South Africa series.Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) from within the BCCI. A few other associations are training their guns on the MCA claiming that Mumbai is being given a long rope by the BCCI despite recurring controversies surrounding India-Pakistan matches. “This is a point that will be discussed at the AGM,” said an official of a state association.In the morning, around 70 Sena activists barged into the BCCI office shouting slogans and asking Manohar to stop the talks with PCB official. The Sainiks carried a black flag and, massing around Manohar’s desk, shouted slogans like “Pakistan murdabad”, “Shashank Manohar murdabad” and “Shahryar Khan go back”. The BCCI chief watched the fracas quietly.Late in the evening, it emerged that the police detained more than two dozen Sena activists. One protester said the Sena would not OK cricketing ties with Pakistan till it stopped killing Indian soldiers and civilians at the border.(With Agency inputs)A group of BJP workers killed 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq Saifi, accusing him of storing beef at his residence in Uttar Pradesh. His son too was seriously injuredThe concert of eminent Pakistan singer Ghulam Ali in Mumbai was cancelled after Sena threatened the event’s organisersSena members smear ink over journalist Sudheendra Kulkarni in Mumbai ahead of a book-release function by former Pakistan foreign minister Mahmud KasuriHaryana chief minister Manohar Khattar says Muslims can live in India as long as they don’t eat beefTaking a cue from Sena, a fringe group in New Delhi smeared black paint over Jammu and Kashmir MLA Rashid who held a beef party protesting the meat ban in the state last monthStepping up its attack, Sena members storm BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, in protest against the cricket body’s plans to resume cricketing ties with PakistanBirbhum Amidst a wave of rising intolerance, President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday expressed serious apprehensions over whether tolerance and acceptance of dissent are on the wane in the country.“Humanism and pluralism should not be abandoned under any circumstance. Assimilation through receiving is a characteristic of Indian society. Our collective strength must be harnessed to resist evil powers in society,” Mukherjee said.Addressing a gathering organised by Nayaprajanma, a local weekly newspaper here, he expressed apprehension about “whether tolerance and acceptance of dissent are on the wane?”He reminded the audience of the teachings of Ramakrishna Paramhansa 'Jato Mat Tato Path' “As there are a number of beliefs, there are a number of ways”.“Indian civilisation has survived for 5000 years because of its tolerance. It has always accepted dissent and differences. A large number of languages, 1600 dialects and 7 religions coexist in India. We have a Constitution that accommodates all these differences,” the President said.The President's strong words on the need to maintain pluralism and dissent in the society come against the backdrop of series of hate incidents including in Mumbai where BJP ally Shiv Sena forced cancellation of a music concert by Pakistani legend Ghulam Ali and talks between Indian and Pakistani cricket board Chiefs and blackened the face of Sudheendra Kulkarni.Less than a fortnight ago against the backdrop of Dadri lynching, the President made a strong appeal for maintaining the core civilisational values of diversity, tolerance and plurality have kept India united for centuries which he said cannot be wasted. The President’s strong condemnation came on a day when an independent MLA from Jammu and Kashmir Sheikh Abdul Rashid was the target of a fringe Hindu outfit which threw ink and mobil oil on him at the Press Club in Delhi protesting against the beef party he held in Srinagar earlier this month. He was also beaten up in the state assembly by BJP MLAs.