By Rajiv Punj
Being a proud Indian is getting difficult by the day as corruption is seeping into every facet of our daily. Look at what has happened to cricket which is a sort of religion and national passion for us. I am appalled at the developments happening over the past week in the most loved and followed sport in the country. More than the scam or spot fixing, it is the way it is being handled and dealt with by those at the helm that is bothering me too much.
The richest cricketing body of the world was responsible for clearing the mist and helping lawmakers clean up the muck created by some crooks whose only one motive is to make money, malign the game and cricketers and betray the billion people who follow this game like religion.
Regretfully, the men at the helm of the BCCI themselves are now bringing disgrace to the game. There was a hope that the working committee of BCCI headed by its President would give a respectable image. Alas, no. On the contrary, it ended being a big SHAM. Perhaps we or rather I was expecting too much from these johnnies …… who unfortunately acted like puppets of their master, the BCCI president Mr. Srinivasan. Everyone, including me, expected him to resign on moral ground, but no. He in fact opened the meeting by declaring that he will not resign. No one in the meeting had the guts to question him except for Mr. Bindra, Mr. Shikre and Mr. Jagdale. Most BCCI board members proved to be eunuchs.
It was shocking to hear from Jagmohan Dalmiya that it was too early to demand his resignation when the whole country was expecting it. Niranjan Shah was the worst when he said that he is just a member of the working committee and when the majority did not ask for the resignation he kept quiet. It is clearly evident that it is a POLITICAL gameplan, with the BJP supporting Srinivasan. It seems obvious that arrangement has been made between Srinivasan and Arun Jaitley. Most working committee members had raised hope but with no result. Which has left spectators, followers and fans asking questions from the administration and players. The public has not been given any concrete answers. Why?
We all need to thank Delhi and Mumbai Police for creating the ripples which are expected to become a wave very soon. I am sure that these big wigs of the BCCI who are just power lovers, money accumulators, will get exposed very soon once the cash money will dry up and they will just shrink and get exposed. I have no confidence in the probe committee formed by the BCCI to investigate. They have NO credibility. When no one knows who created this committee, then how can one trust their investigation? Isn’t it just a coterie management by the leaders? Dalmiya, who heading the affairs, is the one who himself was ousted by these guys. But now they have agreed on him as the interim President. What a scandal! They think they can get away with their dubious motives. They think people of the country are naïve and do not understand their sly games. The governance of Indian cricket is a big question now and the people of India have been fooled by these johnnies who have crossed all limits of decency. They are forcing the Supreme Court to intervene into the working of the BCCI and their most preposterous ways of governance with NO sense of accountability. It is total betrayal of the TRUST of the billion lovers of the game.
Hello, the mute observers of the BCCI, be counted, insist on cleaning up the MESS and infusing confidence in the faith of a billion CRICKET lovers of India. You are accountable…
(Rajiv Punj is a senior multinational corporate executive based in New Delhi)
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