Rohit Mahajan

It’s wishful thinking that sport must become apolitical — it’s impossible, especially in the South Asian context. Subcontinental cousins of South Asia continue to wallow in bigotry and hatred. Bigotry begets bigotry, and thus it endures. It’s often on show during a cricket match. So the great Pakistani fast bowler, Waqar Younis, can express his immense delight that the team’s opener Mohammad Rizwan “offered namaz on the ground surrounded by Hindus”, and that it was “really something very very special for me”. Indian bigots can target a very fine bowler, Mohammed Shami, because he’s had a bad day against Pakistan; they can then go, like a frenzied pack of wild dogs, after Virat Kohli and his little daughter because Kohli spoke strongly against hatred spewed at his brother player Shami.

Progressive Pakistani writer and poetess Fahmida Riaz, who found refuge in India in the 1980s during the repressive Zia-ul-Haq era, realised later that the India she idolised was changing, and wrote a poem titled ‘Tum bilkul hum jaise nikle’ — ‘You turned out to be just like us’.

There’s a difference, though, between Pakistani and Indian bigotry. Pakistani bigots don’t have to be particularly mindful about the feelings of the minorities — they’re just about 3.5 per cent of the population — and are, consequently, more likely to say something horribly shocking in public. Thus, it’s not unnatural for Younis to say what he did, for he believed he was among like-minded people. However, Indian bigots, especially if they’re well-known, face resistance and condemnation when they spout hatred. They’re most virulent online, when they’re under the cloak of anonymity.

In early 2009, soon after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, the Pakistan government refused permission to their cricketers to play in the second edition of the IPL, citing security concerns. Next year, not one IPL team bought a Pakistani player during the player auction. In response, Sohail Tanveer, who had done well in IPL-1 in 2008, said in a TV interview: “Kya keh sakte hain, Hinduon ki zeheniyat hi aisi hai”, ie “what can I say, this is the mindset of the Hindus”. Tanveer’s comment was followed up by a journalist, who said: “Bagal mein chhuri, moonh me Ram-Ram... Did you not know this about Hindu baniya?” A few months later, when I bumped into this Pakistani journalist at a tournament, he turned out to be a not-so unpleasant man in person. His explanation for his comments on TV about Hindus was less bigoted and calmly reasoned, going into historical events since the separation in 1947, including the division of Pakistan in 1971.

Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar — who, again, is quite a pleasant fellow in person — is a firm believer in the two-nation theory; he’s gone to the extent of talking about his expectations about Ghazwa-e-Hind — conquest of India — in the future. Akhtar is no religious scholar — he flaunted his irreligiosity during his playing days, chasing ungodly pleasures of all kinds in nightclubs when touring India — but now he pleasures in gloating over fantasies of bloody conquests.

When India and Pakistan play, especially cricket but also hockey — contests between national teams are most evenly-matched in these two sports — many spectators see it as an ideological battle. I’ve experienced this in many India-Pakistan matches — in several cricket World Cup matches and hockey games at the Asian and Commonwealth Games — when, for many people, hatred and distrust lie just beneath the surface. It’s true that Indian and Pakistani journalists get along very well, often having meals together, even sharing news. But it’s easy to get along if all you discuss is the shared fondness for food, music, movies, poetry and sport — scratch beneath the surface and touch matters of belief, and irrationality would take over.

Just as sport and politics are intertwined, so are belief and politics among us subcontinental cousins. Reason and science will prevail here too — as they did in Europe, ushering it out of the dark ages — but that will take time. Until then, a large number of people will continue to see sport as war.