I wrote a column yesterday asking whether the Bangladesh response was a political one or based on genuine security concerns. A lot of readers from Bangladesh have expressed rather radical responses to the piece. Frankly, this is expected. These days, you don’t expect reason; rather, you expect volatility and ultra-nationalist jingoism.
I also said that I understand where the BCB was coming from. With India stopping Mustafizur Rahman from playing in the IPL, they were under compulsion to react. And with elections coming up, the reaction came from the very top. The government can’t be seen to be weak, and we need to examine the Bangladesh response in that regard.
Here are my seven questions for those who say the security threat is genuine:
- Did Mustafizur express any concern about coming to play in India before the BCCI made its intention public?
- Did the BCB make any statement about not wanting him to travel to India for the IPL ahead of the BCCI’s pronouncement?
- Was there any travel advisory stopping fans from buying tickets for the Bangladesh matches at Eden Gardens? Even at the time of writing, tickets are being sold on BookMyShow, and you can buy them for as little as 300 Rupees.
- Did Bangladesh consent to playing the World Cup in India or not? If there was a security issue, was it ever mentioned to the ICC? How is it that the threat emerged overnight once India stopped Mustafizur from playing in the IPL?
- Some have gone on to say that the threat is in Kolkata. If that’s the case, why has Bangladesh not mentioned Kolkata specifically and asked for its matches to be relocated elsewhere in India?
- Why not just say it is a political response to India stopping Mustafizur from playing?
- Has there been a recce done? How did the security threat suddenly become real? And if that’s the case, how is the timing more than just a coincidence?
The truth is that the world is now a volatile place, with political instability across regions a grim reality of our times. The issues aren’t limited to the Indian subcontinent. Take what’s happening between the US and Venezuela. With the FIFA World Cup just months away, how do you adjust to the on-ground political reality in the region? Mexico and a number of Latin American countries have expressed concern, and all of them are part of the World Cup.
In all this, the big loser, as always, is the fan. Some estimates say 3,000 tickets have already been sold for Bangladesh games at Eden Gardens. It is only natural that these are mostly Bangladesh fans who have bought tickets to come and watch their team play. What about them? What happens to their travel plans? Who will compensate them for tickets already bought, flight arrangements, and hotels that have been paid for? How will these fans be taken care of?
While the BCB and ICC will indeed arrive at a solution, the fans will continue to lose out—and few will ever speak for them.
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