Why in Kashmir a cricket match, especially between India and Pakistan, is more than just a game.

[scorpio90]

Sunanda Vashisht This story is about that forgotten era in Kashmir when it was still best known for its natural beauty. There was no internet, no Google images, but the first mental images that came to mind when the word Kashmir was uttered were the shikaras on the Dal Lake, the majestic Chinars, the slopes of Gulmarg, Yash Chopra’s films and women in delicate pashmina shawls. Kashmiris had not seen or heard of Kalashnikovs and AK-47s yet. The most potent weapon a Kashmiri knew was a kangri, a clay pot with hot coals which they used to keep warm in winter. The most violent sentence a Kashmiri ever used when he was really angry was, ‘I will throw a kangri at you’. After that, the warring factions usually made up with a cup of green tea called Kehwa. There were no guns, so there was no army. There was no army, so there was no AFSPA. It is this idyllic period in Kashmir I refer to. This was during the early 1980s, which I have often called a period of simmering discontent. It was during these ‘peaceful’ years in the 80s that I learnt to hate cricket. A cricket match, especially when India was playing, meant staying indoors, because if India lost, deafening crackers would be burst outside my home and I would hide under the bed. It was around this time I started hating crackers too because they reminded me of cricket. If India was playing Pakistan, it was even worse. A couple of days before the game, my aunts would instruct their teenage sons not to go out of the house and not to get into argument with anyone over anything. I can recall the exact moment I started hating cricket. I remember the scene vividly. I was six years old. My house was located in the heart of Srinagar. From the window of the third floor, I saw a neighbour’s teenaged son walking towards a shop that sold milk. As luck would have it, as he reached the shop, Sunil Gavaskar or Ravi Shastri (I forget who) hit the ball for a six. As was common in those days, most people listened to cricket commentaries on the radio. As soon as the ball was hit for a six, the milkman threw the radio away and slapped my neighbour’s son so hard he fell down. The milkman was a young Kashmiri Muslim and the boy who got slapped was a Kashmiri Hindu. The boy went red with anger, but like most Hindus of Kashmir had learnt very early in their lives, he swallowed the anger and shame and ran back to his house. He didn’t surface for a few days. Cricket was never just a game in Kashmir. Everyone knows the famous match of October 13, 1983, when India played West Indies in the Sher-e-Kashmir stadium in Srinagar, the first international cricket match ever played in Kashmir. The Indian side was booed by local Kashmiri Muslims for every run they scored and West Indies was cheered gregariously much to their shock. The spectators who were overwhelmingly local Muslims threw stones and broken bottles at Indian cricketers. Eyewitnesses have told me that posters of Imran Khan were displayed prominently even though Pakistan was not playing. During the lunch break about a dozen spectators terribly hostile to the Indian team jumped onto the ground and damaged the pitch. The match went on, West Indies won by 28 runs. But Indian cricketers had never been so humiliated on their own soil. The few Hindus in the audience could hardly make their voices heard amongst the volatile, hostile crowd. This happened in the ‘peaceful’ 80s. Terrorism had not yet engulfed Kashmir; Kalashinkovs had not yet been imported from Pakistan. The army had not been called in, and there was no AFSPA invoked. There were no reports of ‘human rights violations’ by the army yet, but Hindu houses were still pelted with stones when India won a cricket match. We were also harassed when the Pakistan team didn’t do that well. And if Pakistan won a match against India, the crackers bursting outside our homes were enough to remind us of our negligible minority status in our own land, the land where our ancestors had lived for 5,000 years. All these incidents came back to me when I heard of the sedition charges being filed against Kashmiri students for rooting for Pakistan during a cricket match in a college in Meerut. The sedition laws have now been dropped but the allegations of disrupting communal harmony and causing damage to public property stand and will be investigated. These students found a lot of sympathetic voices amongst the Indians they love to despise. Most of these Indians said it is ridiculous to be slapping sedition charges on students who cheered for another team. After all, what is the big deal? It is just a goddamn game of cricket. They are right. But this was not merely appreciating a better team or a better player. This was celebrating your country’s loss. This was screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ and ‘la illaha illaha’ after Pakistan won. That, to me, doesn’t translate to appreciating a better playing side on that particular day. I saw the video that is being circulated. The students are seen kissing the TV after India lost. They break into rapturous screams of ‘Allahu Akbar’ and are seen dancing and hugging each other. Can you still ask what the big deal is? After all, in a nation that aspires to be a liberal democracy, there should be freedom to say or do anything. A person should be allowed to root for any country in a game of cricket. Sure. But can this courtesy be extended to me in my home in Kashmir? Can I root vocally in public for the Indian team on the road outside my home in Srinagar? Can I wave the tricolour outside my home in Srinagar when India wins a game of cricket? Would I be safe if I broke into rapturous dance in public in Srinagar when India wins? Who will guarantee my freedom of speech in my own home? It was not safe in the 80s when there were no guns. Can it be safe now? I belong to the tiny minority who does not want azaadi from India or the merger of Kashmir with Pakistan. I belong to the tiny minority who believes Kashmir is the soul of Indic civilization. I believe that without Kashmir, India has no soul and Kashmir can never be separate from India. Kashmir is my home, and has been the home of my ancestors for 5,000 years. Can anyone fighting for the rights of the Kashmiri students rooting for Pakistan in Meerut fight for my rights to wave the Tiranga outside my home in Srinagar?

[zen]

When we talk about Kashmir, some times we forgot that Kashmir Pandits live there too. Many have been forced out of their own homes.

[rahulrulezz]

The Meerutwalas all over the world keep harping about how big gundeys they are of India but when the time came, they chickened out.... Doo teen lagane they salon ko when these Kashmiris were booing India, apney aap hi sudhar jaatey... Remembering about March 2011 WC Semifinal in my university, there were close to 1000 students watching that match and how I almost got it in a fistfight when some Pakistanis started abusing India ..

[zen]

Back in March 2011 WC Semifinal in my university, there were close to 1000 students watching that match and how I almost got it in a fistfight when some Pakistanis started abusing India ..

That's one way to do it - even girls get in all charged up at the sight of anti-national behavior. There was an incidence when some girls in the girls hostel were rooting for the "other" team, and some passionate girls straightened those unpatriotic girls out. Boys hostel ki toh baat hi kiya karni :P

[Desi Cartman]

The Meerutwalas all over the world keep harping about how big gundeys they are of India but when the time came, they chickened out.... Doo teen lagane they salon ko when these Kashmiris were booing India, apney aap hi sudhar jaatey... Remembering about March 2011 WC Semifinal in my university, there were close to 1000 students watching that match and how I almost got it in a fistfight when some Pakistanis started abusing India ..

Thats what the poor VC was trying to avoid in the university and reported it to the police. The politicians made a mockery by filing an un-requested FIR then university screwed up big time by getting them out of town for their safety but these guys ended up spending the night in Delhi on footpaths

[rahulrulezz]

Thats what the poor VC was trying to avoid in the university and reported it to the police. The politicians made a mockery by filing an un-requested FIR then university screwed up big time by getting them out of town for their safety but these guys ended up spending the night in Delhi on footpaths

Reminds me of a classical joke by Russell Peters where Russell tells a story about how a son tries threatening his dad that his dad shouldn't hit him or he would call the Child Support... His dad says go on, cuz in the meantime 'Somebody is gonna get a hurt real bad'... What I am wondering is what happened between the time VC reported to the police/media and the time Kashmiri students were booing India.. The gundas of Meerut atleast had an hour to settle these a$sh0les

[Desi Cartman]

Reminds me of a classical joke by Russell Peters where Russell tells a story about how a son tries threatening his dad that his dad shouldn't hit him or he would call the Child Support... His dad says go on, cuz in the meantime 'Somebody is gonna get a hurt real bad'... What I am wondering is what happened between the time VC reported to the police/media and the time Kashmiri students were booing India.. The gundas of Meerut atleast had an hour to settle these a

It means that even hot heads thought that its not an issue which is worth causing khoon kharaba. What they did was stupid but you cant beat people for things like these.

[SLICKR392]

[rahulrulezz]

It means that even hot heads thought that its not an issue which is worth causing khoon kharaba. What they did was stupid but you cant beat people for things like these.

Sorry I don't agree..khoon kharaba ke liye nahi bola maine, lekin 2-3 thappad to bantey hain bhai.. Saw the video.. that was stupid... Shouting slogans of Allahuakbar and Pakistan Zindabad is just stupid..

[Desi Cartman]

Sorry I don't agree..khoon kharaba ke liye nahi bola maine, lekin 2-3 thappad to bantey hain bhai.. Saw the video.. that was stupid... Shouting slogans of Allahuakbar and Pakistan Zindabad is just stupid..

I lived in Meerut and still remember Allah hu Akbar vs Har Har Mahadev at 2 am during riots so I know things get out of hand very quickly in Meerut. Once we had riots as a rickshaw and bus were in an accident, one was driven by Muslim and other by Hindu and within 30mins Meerut had riots. Im glad that these guys now know that its not acceptable to do it at least in states other than Kashmir, Im also glad that people showed restraint and there was no violence.

[rahulrulezz]

I lived in Meerut and still remember Allah hu Akbar vs Har Har Mahadev at 2 am during riots so I know things get out of hand very quickly in Meerut. Once we had riots as a rickshaw and bus were in an accident, one was driven by Muslim and other by Hindu and within 30mins Meerut had riots. Im glad that these guys now know that its not acceptable to do it at least in states other than Kashmir, Im also glad that people showed restraint and there was no violence.

I guess looking at the bigger picture, I was wrong and you are right... Thank god the people didn't react the way I wanted

[The Outsider]

^rr, I've stayed in the Lucknow University campus for a large part of my life - my father was a professor there. There are Hindu and Muslim dominated hostels and whenever there is a power cut students from both sides start shouting slogans like Har Har Mahadev and Allah-o-Akbar. Once the power comes back on, everyone gets on with their lives and the same people are fine with each other. These things are nothing but a bout of stupidity, Josh, and ignorance about the meaning of their actions than anything serious like sedition they were charged with.

[Crookbond]

^rr' date=' I've stayed in the Lucknow University campus for a large part of my life - my father was a professor there. There are Hindu and Muslim dominated hostels and whenever there is a power cut students from both sides start shouting slogans like Har Har Mahadev and Allah-o-Akbar. Once the power comes back on, everyone gets on with their lives and the same people are fine with each other. These things are nothing but a bout of stupidity, Josh, and ignorance about the meaning of their actions than anything [b']serious like sedition they were charged with.

That's the key issue - charging someone with "sedition" for a cricket team chant. :facepalm:

[Desi Cartman]

That's the key issue - charging someone with "sedition" for a cricket team chant. :facepalm:

The irony is that university never filed a complaint, they reported to inform that police that there might be trouble but didnt say that charge 60+ students for a crime.

[Midfielder]

Scorpio90 I believe in you. So many posters over here who are so nice to pakistanis forget the ethnic cleansing of kashmiri pundits. My forefathers are from kashmir too and we have been uprooted. I blame the Nehru family for giving them cheap rice and coddling them. Pakistan needs to be taught a lesson to finish this problem for once and all.

[rahulrulezz]

^rr' date=' I've stayed in the Lucknow University campus for a large part of my life - my father was a professor there. [b']There are Hindu and Muslim dominated hostels and whenever there is a power cut students from both sides start shouting slogans like Har Har Mahadev and Allah-o-Akbar.Once the power comes back on, everyone gets on with their lives and the same people are fine with each other. These things are nothing but a bout of stupidity, Josh, and ignorance about the meaning of their actions than anything serious like sedition they were charged with.

Outy, the problem is not use of the slogan, it's the when the slogan was used. I dont care if someone goes berzek with Har Har Mahadevs or AllahoAkbar slogans if India is winning a match, or if someone excels in an xam or if someone finds extra paneer in their Kadhai Paneer but why in the effing world would some people shout religious slogans in India in front of Indians when India looses a match. It's not as if radicalized extremist Hindus have anything good to say about Indian Muslims, incidents like give these stupid radicalized Hindus more power and chance to insult Indian Muslims even though its stupid Kashmiris who shud be blamed. I guess it was a good lesson for some of these namak haram Kashmiris who think they can keep their retarded behaviour all over India.

[scorpio90]

^rr' date=' I've stayed in the Lucknow University campus for a large part of my life - my father was a professor there. There are Hindu and Muslim dominated hostels and whenever there is a power cut students from both sides start shouting slogans like Har Har Mahadev and Allah-o-Akbar. Once the power comes back on, everyone gets on with their lives and the same people are fine with each other. These things are nothing but a bout of stupidity, Josh, and ignorance about the meaning of their actions than anything serious like sedition they were charged with.[/quote'] I too have stayed in Lucknow since i was a kid and completed graduation in LU. What you say may have been the truth in your time but not certainly for last 7 years. This much i can guarantee. And what's the need for muslim boys to fight the others when they have a yearly fight (celebration for them) during moharram mainly between shias and sunnis. Everyone knows not to go through muslim dominated areas during that time including old lucknow and chowk areas.

[Crookbond]

While the legal charge against the Kashmiri students was not sustainable, unless they were separately accused of vandalism and violence, there can be other arguments against them. But television and Twitter missed the debate http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/edit/salman-khurshid-takes-on-poll-panel-apex-court.html A nice article which sums up things pretty well.

[Lurker]

This is much ado about nothing. If you carry an Indian passport I don't see how you can support Pakistan over India. This is quite a different scenario that supporting Australia or West Indies mind you. There is nothing immature about India, or Indian democracy, here. Even in West, including US, during the cold war era there was hardly a soul that could openly support Russia. Forget about shouting slogans in favor of Lenin, or Stalin, if you were a sympathize you were picked up by FBI. I am all for letting people cheer whatever country they want to support, but it is equally ridiculous to gloss over the India-Pakistan history and dynamics.