BCCI boss must go

It is time for BCCI President N Srinivasan to go. Otherwise, BCCI must move for his suspension without any delay. His tenure has blackened the face of gentlemen’s game. His son-in-law is already under police custody for his alleged involvement in IPL betting. With the arrest of Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of BCCI President N Srinivasan and owner of Chennai Super Kings, for his alleged involvement in IPL betting scandal, BCCI President’s continuation in office is untenable. Meyappan is the son-in-law of BCCI President N Srinavasan and the allegation against him is of betting in IPL matches. The owner of Chennai Super King (CSK) is of the Board President N Srinavasan and until the arrest , Meiyappan was the CEO of Chennai Super King. Meiyappan’s arrest has also raised serious doubts about continuance of the franchise in the hugely popular T20 league. BCCI has launched the IPL. The Spot fixing scandal involving the bookies, players, owners, mafias and underworld dons in the IPL matches is also dangerous for the security and integrity of the nation. The game of Cricket is gentlemen’s game and it is most popular in our country. No body advocates for the banning of IPL matches but at the same time no body likes this type of game through which anti-national activity may be carried on under its cover. Board President must show moral obligation by resigning the moment spot fixing broke out in the IPL matches. He is the conscience keeper of cricket in India. He has failed in his duty to keep away the IPL matches from the gaze of sinners. The alleged involvement of his son-in-law makes for him untenable to stay in his office even for a minute. Much water has flown down the Ganges. Now nothing is left for Srinivasan to cover with to stay in office. Meiyappan is not only his son-in-law but was also the top honcho of his team CSK in IPL. Now what is left that he waits to come in open. So, it is time for him to resign from the post of president of the BCCI. If Srinvasan is not resigning on his own, the BCCI must suspend him forthwith and save the game of cricket from further degradation, debauchery, dishonesty, disloyalty to the nation and humiliation. The spot fixing incident has let down the players and BCCI officials in equal measure. It is the laxity of BCCI that betting found its way in IPL. The 35-year-old top honcho of CSK, twice IPL champions, was in the eye of a huge storm after actor and TV reality show winner Vindoo Dara Singh, arrested for his alleged links to bookies, admitted to having placed bets on his behalf. Vindoo, winner of reality show Bigg Boss season 3 and son of late wrestler-actor Dara Singh, was allegedly in frequent touch with Meiyappan during the IPL matches and was claimed to have told Mumbai crime branch that the CSK owner had lost Rs 1 crore through betting.

Lacklustre performance

UPA-II has nothing in its report card to present before the nation on its fourth anniversary in power. It has more failures and almost no success to show the people. It has more negatives and no positive in its report card. UPA-II has no single achievement to its credit to impress the people. If it considers FDI and Direct Cash Transfer Scheme as its trump card in the Lok Sabha elections next year, it is its misplaced confidence. It is nothing but its mirage. Its four-year period is of scams, scandals and price rise. Spineless leadership, inaction and policy paralysis have been the hallmark of this UPA-II. It has nothing in its kit to impress the Aam Admi to cast their votes in its favour in the Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held next year itself. As UPA-II completes its fourth year in power, it is going to present its report card of achievements on this occasion with pomp and show. Since the beginning of UPA-II, it has been plagued by one scandal after another. Parliament has run for the shortest period so far during its tenure. The Parliament has transacted almost no business during the entire UPA-II. UPA-II has also not been able to present a united face before the nation. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh appeared weak and indecisive, and his writ did not run on his government. There is allegation of the opposition parties that for every decision, PM has to look towards the party leadership. Congress president and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi takes all the decision and PM has to execute them. There has never been weakened the Office of Prime Minister as much as it has been done during UPA-II. On the political front, UPA-II has failed to keep itself united. Its alliance partners parted with it one by one. First Trinamool Congress on the issue of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and then DMK on the issue of Sri Lanka withdrew its support to the UPA-II. After the withdrawal of these two most important partners, the UPA-II govt. virtually slumped into minority, but for the outside support from SP and BSP, UPA-II has kept itself so far intact in the saddle. The main reason behind withdrawing support to the UPA-II Govt. by TMC and DMK is its falling popularity and credibility among the common people of the nation. On the front of economy, UPA-II has totally failed to check the runaway prices of all commodities. Mismanagement of economy and corruption have been the hallmark of the UPA-II Govt. headed by the world-renowned economist Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Address the national interest first

Every nation keeps its national interest above all so should India also do. India should have presented its prime concern about border dispute with China the visiting Chinese premier Li Kequiang. It is a longstanding problem and frequent incursions by Chinese troops into India Territory may flare up in full-blown confrontation between the two big neibours, which is neither in anyone's favour nor world peace. That is why border dispute needs prime attention of the both countries to find out amicable and mutually accepted solution. The Chinese premier Li Keqiang is on three-day visit to India. His visit is significant because it has taken place just after the Chinese troops incursion in Despang Valley of Ladakh in India. Though the Chinese troops pulled out of Ladakh after camping in Despan Valley 19 kms inside Indian Territory for 15 days, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh must have raised the issue strongly with his visiting Chinese counterpart to resolve it once for all. Mr. Singh should also have clearly told Li that India shares 4000 kms of boundary with China and not the 2000 as is usually stated by it. Chinese Premier should also have been asked to clear his country’s relation with Pakistan in regard to India as China has been encouraging Pakistan with adequate help to develop nuclear weapons against India. Li has also not made any mention of his country’s baseless claim on Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim in his address to the press nor does China consider the state of Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India. He should have cleared China's stand on these issues, as they are concerned with unity and integrity of India. It is worth welcoming that Li Keqiang has made his India visit first after assuming office as the prime minister of China. He appeared affable and effusive. He also reflected his modern mind and appeared not carry the baggage of history as he is a leader who comes from after 1962. During his India visit, he has shown more interest in promoting trade and commerce and global strategic relation than solving the border dispute with India and its relation with Pakistan. Chinese leaders have also been found telling one thing and doing just the opposite. China considers itself as the strongest claimant of a top most place in the world. So, Li may have made India visit to gauze the India’s mood and assess its progress and prosperity. If China can claim to be a world leader, India also can not be left far behind. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has said India and China have the wisdom to find mutually acceptable solution to the boundary problem. But this wisdom on the part of China is yet to be experienced by India. It is correct that the two countries have tried to address the vexed issue, but all efforts have gone in vain so far because of the Chinese disrespect to the established fact. The trade imbalance is currently around USD 30 billion. A day after two rounds of talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, Li has said China has the intention to sincerely resolving the pending issues, including that of cross-border rivers, and favoured increased bilateral relations between the two big neighbours. But if the experience with China is anything to go by, India can take everything what Li has said on its face value.

Need for Transparency in BCCI

There is urgent need to make BCCI transparent. All its activities are opaque. It is a leading sports organization of the nation with which national pride, prestige and honour are inalienably attached. In the given position, it must own responsibility of letting down the game of cricket and take urgent strict and stringent measures to restore the confidence, love and affection of the people. BCCI in an emergency meeting has failed to take any action against the three players Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan for their alleged involvement in IPL Spot fixing scandal. All these players have been arrested by the Delhi Police for their alleged involvement in Spot fixing in the ongoing IPL Matches. All the three players are of Rajasthan Royals. BCCI has only shown its avowed helplessness in not taking action. BCCI has only appointed Ravi Sawani as a Commissioner to probe into the allegations of spot fixing. It has also made the announcement of slew of measures, but to effect. No measures taken by the BCCI are going to serve any purpose. BCCI can not evade from the responsibility and accountability it owes to the people of the nation by saying that it is a private organization. Yes, it is a private organization but it selects the team that represents the nation. The Indian Cricket team that is selected by the BCCI carries pride and conscience of the people of the nation. So, on the ground of being a private organization, the BCCI can not be kept outside the ambit of RTI. It must come under the purview of the RTI. To make all the functionings of the BCCI transparent before the people of the nation, it must be brought under the ambit of RTI. After all, BCCI is all in all in each and every cricketing activity of the nation. It is also the richest sports organization. Because of BCCI being the richest sports organization of the nation, politicians irrespective of party affiliation are in beeline to grab a post in it. BCCI has launched India Premier League more to earn money by entertaining people through fast cricket and less to improve the cricket. It must be the duty of the BCCI to have a vigil on all players selected in national, state teams and for IPL matches. This is not the first time that the spot fixing has taken place in our country. There has already been match fixing before in our country. Spot fixing incident has blackened the game of cricket. It has also brought disrepute to the nation. So, the BCCI must be made responsible for the action and behaviour of cricket players. After all, it is the organization, which organizes all cricketing activities of the nation. To salvage its position in wake of the spot fixing scandal, BCCI has announced a slew of measures. Washing his hands off the betting scandal, BCCI boss N Srinivasan has candidly admitted that BCCI and its anti corruption units have limitations and is handicapped to take action against bookies. By merely showing helplessness, BCCI can not be absolved of responsibility and accountability to the nation. It is not only meant for earning huge amount of money through cricket but also ensuring fair and gentlemanliness character of the game .

Blot on Cricket

The increasing lust and greed for money in the game of cricket has culminated in spot fixing in the ongoing IPL matches. The spot fixing clearly reflects that the greed for money in IPL reigns supreme. The Delhi Police have arrested three bowlers of the Rajasthan Royals, including India pacer S Sreesanth, and 11 bookies.The police have claimed that they had busted a major spot-fixing racket in the T20 tournament. Police have also claimed that the bowlers conceded a minimum number of runs in a pre-decided over in exchange for money. Haryana off-spinner Ajit Chandila and Mumbai left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan are the other two bowlers who were arrested with Sreesanth in Mumbai after Wednesday’s match between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians. With the arrest of three bowlers by Delhi Police from Rajasthan Royals, including Indian Test bowler Sreesanth and 11 bookies for their alleged involvement in Spot fixing in the ongoing IPL matches, Indian Premier League has plunged into crisis. Though the birth of IPL itself is meant for earning money only, the entailing evils are a forgone conclusion. Where there is primacy of money only, it would be a mistake to expect anything good for the game coming out of it. The purpose of launching IPL by the BCCI is to earn by entertaining the cricket fans.IPL is full of pomp and show. Money matters everything in it. Whoever player irrespective of his background must punished stringently and a clear message must go from the BCCI that its ultimate aim is not to earn money but promote the game of cricket in all fairness and true sporting spirit. It is already known that the IPL has nothing to do with any moral sanctity and standards. Several Franchisees form their teams separately by auctioning the players of their choices for the teams. Betting racket, Mumbai, Dubai and Karanchi nexus may be involved in spot fixing exercise in IPL. Underworld dons sitting abroad may have hand in all the exercise being undertaken by bookies at their dictation with the help of players of dubious characters. With the launching of IPL, the intention of the BCCI is not to bring improvement in the game of cricket but to make money by hook or crook. The cricket fans in India and abroad have been badly shocked and hurt by the dubious acts of the three Rajasthan Royals bowlers to defame cricket. Cricket is called the gentlemen game but now it will be fit to call it a game of manipulators, money makers, deceits, fixers and thugs. The IPL with its only motive of generating money more and more, it is not altogether out of place to say that kingpin of spot fixing is yet to be caught. The three bowlers who have been arrested allegedly for spot fixing have not only let down all the players community but also the game of cricket. They need to be awarded deterrent punishment to ensure that this type of shameful and deceitful behaviour is not enacted on the field before the spectators. It will also be better to dissolve IPL and curtail all activities which put stress on only money generating exercise and doing nothing for the improvement in the game of cricket. Excessive money in the game of cricket has brought all types of evils in it. The BCCI must act swiftly and stringently to give the message to the players that if they are found lacking in devotion, dedication, credibility and integrity for the game of Cricket, they will will be suspended immediately.

Perception of soft stand on corruption

In the backdrop of the spate of scandals like 2G Spectrums, CWG, Chopper, Coal gate and railway bribery, the Union Defence Minister A K Antony has rightly said that the perception has evolved among the public that the UPA-II government is soft on corruption. The fact is that no area of activity has been left sacrosanct. The Indian Army is considered above all corrupt practices. However, the way the immoral act of unlawful sexual activities have come to light in navy is a matter of great concern for the public. Though the Union Minister AK Antony has ordered for enquiry the moment he received a complaint of a naval officer’s wife that she was being pressurized by her husband to establish sexual relation with the senior officer, a perception has certainly developed among the public that no department of this UPA govt is untouched with immoral acts. These things are nothing but indicate that the sharp degeneration is setting fast in all spheres of lives. As far as the public perception about corruption in the government is concerned, it is growing day by day due to soft peddling of the issues of corruption by the government. At last, under media and opposition pressure, the Manmohan Singh government had to take resignation from Pawan Kumar Bansal as Railway Minister because of railway bribery scandal and Law Minister Ashwani Kumar because of his sharing CBI draft status report on Coalgate . This development has definitely sent the message that the former law minister did so because he wanted to save Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who was also the coal minister from 2006 to 2009. If the UPA-II had acted tough against all those who were allegedly involved in 2G Spectrum the moment the scandal surfaced, no other scam after it could have occurred. But the UPA-II did not act until the Supreme Court asked it to do. This action clearly has sent the message out that this government is very soft on the issue of corruption. To change this public perception, the Govt. will have to act very fast, tough and sincerely. Perception is not made in a day. It takes time. Though no allegation of corruption has been proved in the court of law, the litany of scandal is so large that it is natural for the people to think that Manmohan Singh-led UPA-II government is neck deep in corruption.

Positive signal from Pakistan

With PML (N) voted to power in Pakistan, Nawaz Shaif has openly said in an interview with the prestigious US journal that he would seek warmer relation with India. It is very positive signal from Pakistan. India has already congratulated Nawaz Sharif on his victory.This is the third time that Sharif would become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The most remarkable thing that has been seen in Pakistan elections is that despite the threat from Pakistan Taliban to the people not to cast votes, the record percentage of polling was recorded in this election. The time has changed so is Pakistan. This election also reflects that the people are more concerned with Bijli, Pani Sarak than with anything else. This reflects that electorates in Pakistan want the politics of development, peace and progress. The massive victory of Nawaz Sharif will also restrain the meddling of Pakistan Army in politics to some extent and he will certainly assert his authority above all. The outgoing regime of PPP stands discredited and was weak to dare act against the wishes of the Army and extreme radical forces in Pakistan. The rise of militancy and Pakistan Taliban has reached their crescendo during the spineless PPP regime that failed miserably to rein extremist elements. As far as this new dispensation of Nawaz Sharif is concerned, India hopes for better and warmer relations. India also hopes that the new regime of Nawaz Sharif will act on India’s demand of handing over of the chief conspirator of 26/11 Mumbai attack Hafiz Sayeed and the chief architect of Mumbai riots of 1993 underworld don Dawood Ibrahim to it. Both of them are living in grandiose in Pakistan under its full patronage. Though Nawaz Sharif has promised in his election manifesto that he would enquire the role of ISI in Mumbai attack(26/11), it is to be seen how he translates his words into action on the ground. In his first and second term, Nawaz Sharif also had not shown any magnanimity towards India. The Kargil misadventure of Pakistan took place against India during his prime ministership, though he has blamed former General and military ruler Pervez Musharraf for it. Nawaz Sharif has not apportioned the blame to army for Kargil misadventure. It means he does not to displease army. He singled out General Musharraf for the misdeed of Kargil. Nawaz may have personal grudge against Musharraf because he had staged coup and threw him out of power and Pakistan. It is positive development that democracy is taking roots in Pakistan. This is the first time in the history of Pakistan that the transition of power from one government to another through elections has taken place. India cannot expect any sea change after the new regime of Nawaz Sharif takes over in Pakistan but one thing is clear that now this regime will handle army very aptly and always try to keep distance with it to the possible extent. This scenario portends well for India. Lesser the role of Pakistani army in the government, better it is for improving its relations with India.