Cricketer-turned-BJP MP-turned-Congress leader-turned-Trinamool Congress MP Kirti Azad has a serious problem with the Indian T20 cricket captain Surya Kumar Yadav taking the World Cup trophy to a Hanuman temple in Ahmedabad, after the victory over New Zealand.
For him it was a ‘shameful’ act by Team India. Instead of congratulating the team, he tweeted, “SHAME ON TEAM INDIA” (all capital letters). He said the trophy represented 1.4 billion Indians of all faiths. He also asked why it was not taken to a mosque, gurdwara or a church? While the trophy indeed represents the 1.40 billion Indians, so does Lord Hanuman.
Azad was duly and rightly snubbed by the Aam Aadmi Party MP and former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, asking Azad not to politicise the issue. He described Azad’s reaction as absurd, which it actually was.
But why should Azad have a problem with it? None of the team members, in fact no one else, had any problem, except Azad. There is a reason behind it. Azad was a three-time MP from the BJP. However, after failing to get a ministerial berth in the 2014 BJP government, he started criticising the party and even accusing the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley of corruption.
He was suspended from the party in 2015. Since he was not expelled, he did not resign himself, as in that case he would have had to vacate from the Parliament and seek re-election. He resigned just before the 2019 General Elections and joined the Congress. The Congress did not give him a ticket and he contested independently, and lost. Later, he joined the Trinamool Congress in 2022 and was fielded from the Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal. He won and is currently the TMC MP.
Imagine Azad making similar comments if the trophy was taken to some different religious place. Would he have the audacity to ‘shame’ team India? It can be anybody’s guess and that too when he represents the TMC. Or would he make such a comment if he was still with the BJP?
His ‘shameful’ comment has clear political and electoral overtones. West Bengal is going for the assembly elections in the coming months. There are about 27 per cent Muslim voters in West Bengal and they have for a long time now sided with the TMC only. Even in Azad’s parliamentary constituency of Bardhaman-Durgapur, there are about 20 per cent Muslim voters.
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As Shakespeare said, ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’, the same way, Azad is still feeling furious over having been scorned by the BJP 11 years ago and denied a ministerial berth. He is venting his anger in multiple ways. He may have every reason to feel betrayed and angry with the BJP, and he has every right to vent his anger at the party. But why drag the national cricket team into an unnecessary controversy?
Celebrities visiting religious places is quite normal. If the Indian captain took the trophy to a Hanuman temple, what was shameful about that? The only purpose for people like Azad is to target a particular section of the voters with their statements. They do it in the safe knowledge that there will be no backlash from the majority community and that you can easily get away with ‘shaming’ anyone for visiting a temple.
Estranged Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar claims to be a ‘secular fundamentalist’. Azad seems to fit in that definition. Such leaders try to pose and project themselves as the icons of ‘secularism’ with particular motives to please their political bosses to ensure their own secure future. This was true about Aiyar and this is true about Azad.
Here lies the real problem with the opposition parties. They are not able to distinguish the country's achievements from the BJP government, which may or may not claim credit for the World Cup victory, but leaders like Azad do ensure that the BJP is seen as standing with the national interest. Azad in his overenthusiasm to be seen as secular, rather safeguarding the interests of the minorities, has failed to draw a line between the national cricket team and the party he is now opposing.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s son, Jay Shah, is the boss of Indian cricket besides being the Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC). People like Azad and many others do see their imprint, and by consequence, that of the BJP on Indian cricket. There indeed must be. But that is a universal fact. Parties in power do dominate sports politics as well. The BJP is not an exception. Political parties and leaders like Azad should take extra care not to politicise a game, particularly cricket, just because people in control of the game right now belong to the ruling party.
Our cricket team won the cup for 1.4 billion people and not for any particular political party. Cricket is the second religion of the people of India, which blurs the lines of their primary religion. Let us not look at it along the sectarian lines.
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