The nightmare after RCB’s dream win
THE Congress government in Karnataka thought that it would gain politically from the felicitation of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team, winners of the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, things went horribly wrong, leading to a stampede that claimed 11 lives. The government could have redeemed itself if the Chief Minister or his deputy had resigned. It chose to “sacrifice” the police top brass and go after cricket officials! This was a selfish decision, which is sure to boomerang on the party.
West Indian writer VS Naipaul talked about how cricket had cast a spell on his compatriots. “West Indies is Cricket and Cricket is West Indies,” he wrote. In this century, that baton has been passed on to India. Hatred for “alien” religions has gripped parts of the country in this last decade. Love of cricket has overwhelmed the majority of its citizens for as long as I can remember. When the Indian team plays an international match, all of us are glued to the television. When the Mumbai Indians play, I watch. I am a 96-year-old Mumbai-born citizen.
A Maharashtrian Brahmin, Shushobha Barve, who has made “communal harmony” her mission in life, had suggested tennis-ball cricket matches in Mumbai for fostering friendlier ties between the police and the city’s youth, sourced compulsorily from warring communities living in the slums. Each police station needed to choose an officer as its representative. Local Mohalla Committee members would select young men aged between 18 and 25 years to represent the slum-dwelling youth living in the jurisdiction of different police stations.
The tournament is now a yearly affair, much anticipated by youngsters. The goal of breaking down barriers between communities on the one hand and the people living in the slums and the police on the other was achieved. The power of cricket to unify was successfully tested. It has stood the test of time, particularly in riot-torn areas of the city. Where senior police officers got involved, the results were even better.
The IPL teams are named and structured on the basis of states (Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab) or cities (Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Lucknow). The beauty of this arrangement is that the players in each team are drawn from across India and even beyond through auctions. The RCB team that won the tournament this year did not have any player from Bengaluru or even from the state (Karnataka) in its ranks. Yet, the people of the state and its government claimed ownership of the team — because it won.
The state government, basking in the reflected glory of the RCB’s victory, ordered that the team, on its arrival at the Bengaluru airport, be taken to the Vidhana Soudha for a ceremonial welcome by the Cabinet. It issued verbal orders to the police on the phone to cooperate with the makeshift arrangements despite the lack of time to plan the bandobast.
The winning team had already posted a message on social media that a victory parade would be organised. This message came at 7 am on June 4. The plan to felicitate the team at the Vidhana Soudha was finalised at 10:30 am. A victory in cricket can enthuse every supporter, even those who have never handled bat or ball. In any case, a message from the Chief Minister’s office could not have been ignored by the police top brass.
Siddaramaiah, the jubilant CM, obviously expected the Police Commissioner to rise to the occasion. When the tragedy occurred, he promptly shrugged off responsibility and suspended the Commissioner and four others down the chain. He also appointed a one-member commission, presided over by a retired High Court Judge, to probe various aspects of the events that led to the disaster. By doing so, he thought that he had washed his hands of the blame that would, in the usual course of things, come to rest on his shoulders and that of his government.
I agree that the police could have done a better job, but the government should not have burdened the police with the unnecessary reception at the Vidhana Soudha. Many personnel must have been deployed at that venue. If even a minor mishap had occurred there, all hell would have broken loose.
If the government and the ruling party wanted credit for the RCB win, they should also be ready to take responsibility for the stampede that occurred outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was the Railway Minister in Nehru’s cabinet when a major rail accident took place. Being a conscientious person, he resigned from the Cabinet.
The Karnataka CM, or more appropriately the Deputy CM, who was the most visible dignitary at the Vidhana Soudha function, should have stepped down in the spirit of a noble politician like Shastri. That gesture would have pacified the people.
The knee-jerk reaction of the CM and the police to register cases against the RCB management is distressing, to say the least. I do hope that saner counsel prevails and that Virat Kohli and his team-mates are not “punished” for winning the IPL trophy!
Three lakh cricket enthusiasts were reported to have turned up at the Bengaluru stadium, which can accommodated only 35,000 spectators. That should have been anticipated. The state’s Home Minister should have monitored the police arrangements. The Mumbai City police have much experience in handling such mammoth crowds. When Kapil Dev’s team returned after its victory in the 1983 World Cup, massive crowds came out to greet the victors right from their arrival at Mumbai’s International Airport to the Wankhede Stadium, where the final celebrations were held.
In 2007, when India won the T20 World Cup in South Africa, an open double-decker bus was arranged so that many cricket lovers could see and greet the heroes as they drove from the airport at Santa Cruz to the stadium in South Mumbai. This alone dispersed many who would have wended their way to the stadium.
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