After crying hoarse throughout the night following the match, the beleaguered president of Hockey India (HI), Narendra Batra, resorted to threatening the governing body of the game. He told the International Hockey Federation (FIH), “If no action is taken against Pakistan team then India will not host any international events in future and if such objectionable behaviour is tolerable for the FIH, then they must take their events to countries who are ready to ready to tolerate the kind of behaviour that the Pakistan players exhibited.”
The FIH wilted under the pressure and slapped bans on two Pakistan players, as HI acting as the playground bully, succeeded in using its clout and financial muscle to push through an injudicious verdict. Shahnaz Sheikh, the Pakistan coach, had apologised straightaway for the misdemeanours of his players. While the celebration antics of the players cannot be condoned, they were in no way different from what a number of Indian teams and players of the past and present have indulged in.
Batra was forced to eat humble pie only hours after the decision as one of India’s own players pushed an Australian rival, with the hosts succumbing to another defeat in their bronze medal play-off match. But to date, the FIH is quiet. It was also quiet when one of the German players celebrated his goal in the tournament final with another obscene gesture. Since the obscene gesture was a European one, Batra perhaps failed to spot it!
One is forced to laugh at Batra’s claim that the behaviour of Pakistan players were against the great sporting norms and traditions of India. Well Mr Batra, forced by your great desire to play to the gallery, you seemingly forgot that the same ‘sporting’ and ‘affectionate’ Indian crowd hurled stones at the 1989 Asia Cup-winning Pakistan hockey team. Many players, including the current secretary of the Pakistan Hockey Federation, Rana Mujahid, sustained injuries during the incident in Delhi, with the crime of the Greenshirts simply being to beat their rivals in a game of hockey. Mr Batra, you must also recall the scenes at your cauldron of cricket, Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, as Pakistan closed in on a Test win in 1999. We are also forced to ask if indeed the Indian sporting tradition and spirit took a dent or was raised a notch as Sourav Ganguly pumped his fist and swung his shirt while baring his chest at the hallowed cricket turf of Lord’s?
Also, please elaborate as to how did you allow Prabhjot Singh to get away with a slap on the wrist only, when he made the obscene gesture on the hockey pitch? Mr Batra, the fans on this side of the Wagah are unequivocal in their condemnation of the ‘over the top’ celebrations of our players, but before preaching Pakistan on the topic of displaying sporting behaviour, please spend some time preaching your own sporting stars too.
While the electronic, print and social media in Pakistan continue to remain abuzz with pictures and videos of offensive on-field behaviour of Indian players, one is forced to lament the spineless stance of the PHF. Gone are the days when Pakistan ruled the roost at the FIH. The financially crippled supreme body of the sport in the country has been jostling for funds and recognition for nearly a decade now and rather than taking the unjust ruling head on, the Greenshirts entered the field for the final with their heads bowed. Their Indian counterparts, on the other hand, have improved the stake of their national game by leaps and bounds in recent years and through their vast market for the sport, can coerce the international body to make rulings in their favour. Pakistan must also take the bull by the horns and build on the success in Bhubaneswar. Hockey must get the requisite support of the public and private sectors since our players are still immensely talented, possessing the ability to tame even the mightiest on their day.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (33)
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@Jatin: its not indians who allowed pakistan to play in ct...... they qualified for the competition.... stupid indian
if u think they did not do anything wrong then invite them to your home ,, shirtless and pointing finger to ur female family members ...will u accept that ...think b4 overreacting ...shouting abuses and showing middle fingers to crowd is not acceptable not only in India but it is unacceptable in any part of world ..Pakistan being a muslim country should know that in countries like in Saudi Arabia and Qatar ..it can lead to jail sentence also.
@Kashif: So? He was fined half of his match fees and had to apologize for his behavior. Punishment was there. Just because Kohli did that does it give your players a free ticket? If yes, be ready to face the punishment too.
@Bewildered: And does that ploy of ET also include scissoring out comments by such Indians that are not malevolent & hostile towards Pakistanis, let alone Muslims? To the sub: Crowd behaviour was reprehensible but vulgarity by players should be unpardonable.
@Saif AHmed:
"I am sure these comments are pretty offensive ... but the ET would be offended too."
In the beginning I thought the same too, but now I realize that it is a clever ploy of ET to expose Indians true mentality, malevolence, and hostility towards Pakistan and Muslims.
@Afroz Congrats to pakistan for playing good game. Indians appreciate pak win But Indians dont appreciate Pak players insulting behaviour on the field . Players are not be blamed cause mind set in Pak public is so poisoned by daily rhetoric against India that It becomes their second habit to show disrespect at the drop of hat. Now dont quote past decade old history to justify players actions.
Plain speaking as cricket or hockey spectator, I feel uncomfortable watching the games if any in Pakistan. The crowd is one sided. No appreciation even if you make 100 or 200. The cricket commentators in olden days eg Col shujaat was totally one sided. Bis hen Bedi lost the 1976 series due to crowd booing and tactics. Pity the Sri Lankans who escaped with their lives. Srikanth was chased by one with pointed stump. Please remember these sporting memories.
The double standard of Indians:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/series-tournament/india-in-australia/top-stories/Annoyed-Virat-Kohli-shows-middle-finger-to-the-SCG-crowd/articleshow/11368114.cms
Read comments on how it was good that Virat Kohli showed middle finger to Aussie crowd?
@Neeraj: uhhh no that was not the score in the final, but you wouldn't know anything about it, cause you weren't in it!!
@Khan: wasn't that the score in finals?
It's sports buddy, don't play games with it.
But but...life is a bollywood movie, and an Indian always wins in the movies. This just doesn't make sense to the indians.
HAHAHA the amount of hurt is too much. All the indians rushing in here to teach everyone about professionalism. 4-3!!!! Too little too late
Man! Is this Indian News paper? Seems to be. All I read is Pakistan bashing from our Indian friends. Wow! I can't imagine any Indian news agency allowing Pakistanis to reciprocate the same on their forum. I am sure these comments are pretty offensive to not only the Pakistan bashing Indians but the ET would be offended too. I just wanted to vent it out.
India is the biggest country in the world and the more it getting bigger, their heart is getting smaller. I am surprised what has stimuated author to raise valid points about the mentality of Indians which is an open secret. And everybody knows they don't have the guts to digest any defeat in sports specially against Pakistan. They have habit of start crying as victim on the pretext of one small condemnable incident from Pakistan side which should not over shadowed the quality of game which both nation have enjoyed.
Rather accepting defeat and appreciating the quality of game, the whole india was crying like a widow on the first day of the death of her husband.
Grow up my neighbors not in population size but mentality and heart wise as well.
YOU FORGOT The BRAND SYMBOL of Pakistan Goalkeeping..... THE CROTCH..... i dont think any sensible sporting body wil laceept this as a symbol..... forget the middle fingers they have become common place in International sporting now a days....
@ajeet: Some of his team members in fact put their silver medals inside their respective shoes. A life ban was initially slapped by the FIH, but later changed to a two year suspension on the intervention of Mrs Indira Gandhi, of all the people.
Maybe its normal behavior on Pakistani grounds, but then no one goes to Play in Pakistan
As an Indian and I know many other Indians agree, I see the behavior of Hockey India as a means to divert attention from the defeat. Once the apology was given there was no need to pursue matters further. It was a great match and good to see an Asian team in the final. . Hockey India has far more serious issues with Indian hockey rather than pursuing a pointless case. To start with, bring back Terry Walsh....
India needs to learn its lesson! Please do not invite Pakistani players for sporting events from now on...not kabaddi, not cricket, not hockey! not anything anymore.
There is NO international level sporting event organised in Pakistan in the last decade due to militancy and threat to the players.. Soon would be time when Pakistani players will not even be invited by Internation Community to play in their Country..
At first, India allowed Pakistani players to play in India... then the Pak players started making obscene gestures towards the public... No this author want that no action should be taken against innocent players..
@ajeet:
Shh...don't mention facts. Facts make Pakistanis very angry.
In the fight of two bullies, bigger one is going to win. Pakistani player had option of showing some humility, but they missed it completely. Also the apology of Pakistani coach is meaning less now as it is clearly not from heart, it is just for formality purpose.
This is the same attitude that comes back in everything - sporting culture, treatment of minorities, human rights violations, defecation in the open, rapes, nuclear proliferation. Gloss over your own problems - immediately find someone else to blame or to accuse of a similar or worse track record and it miraculously makes you look good (in your own eyes). No way to improve - you are already perfect.
@author WoW..Now India was the reason why Pak got lost in the final...There was an Indian victory in the Asia cup final recently.How many Indian players were there shirtless and gone mad after victory??Man now we are living in the modern world of social media,24*7 channels,nothing can be covered up especially when your whole team were in a frenzy and particularly two were showing obscene gestures to public and media.If you mess with media you will really feel the pinch!So no point in complaining about something that happened earlier as unlike what happened few years ago now everyone including those who didnt watch the match are aware of all these negative things.For India it was just a game and we lost it,couldn't repeat the victory in Asia cup.We would have backed off the same way when Aussies defeated us in the third place match.Even though there was a momenterily push and arguments between the players there was no complaints either from the players side or from public,why so??Your argument may be that it was not "arch rivals" Pak.This rivalry are good only in media,problem is your Pak players take it to heart,and when the near impossible happened-beating India in India,they lost control and showed their true culture.
"Gone are the days when Pakistan ruled the roost at the FIH",Man! this reminds me of similar Pak propaganda that they(muslims) were ruling Indians(hindus)Either you are a follower of "Sir Dr" Hafeez Saeed or similar individuals,nor at least a sympathiser to believe in similar propaganda not knowing that they are false.Mughals(muslims) at best could rule upto central India.Then there is South,East and North East India,which were relatively independent states.Similarly Pak at best were sportingly No.1 in FIH rankings.It was never ever anything more than that either financially or influentially.This false pride and propagandas are killing your nation literally(dont like to mention still have to-like what happened in Peshawar school yesterday) So at least try to be humble,try to see others point of view,behave decently(not just sometimes,avoid situations where you have to bring roses later).Dont indulge in grandiose delusions about India(as your ex-US ambassador said"Magnificent delusions") Then you will find your "arch rivals"-India and its spectators will applaud you instead of taunting you.
"couple of middle fingers directed towards the crowd" ..do tell us which other sporting event that has happened? There were women, and children sitting in that crowd! I know Pakistan doesn't get a chance to celebrate much, but please teach your players some manners!
"Some of the Pakistan players had taken off their shirts and perhaps just the sight of their bare bodies and a couple of middle fingers directed towards the crowd were enough to rip at the seams of the traditions and values that embody India."
I have said this before and I'm saying this again, Muslims in general and Pakistanis in particular are very slow and they simply don't know how to construct a logical argument.
1) Actually there was only one middle finger. The other one was thrusting an imaginary stick inside an imaginary tube. Both made out of his fingers. Now, I want to suggest the writer to try this out at the audience in Pakistan celebrating the next occasion when he wins an award for UNBIASED, CLASSY journalism and see what happens.
2) I'm sure the writer is not suggesting that we were jealous of Pakistani players herculean bare bodies, but rest assured we were not insulted by their shirt removal. That is fine.
3) It's neither a question of our traditions or our values. It's a question of insulting the crowd. No matter what your understanding of our values and traditions is, we don't go on showing fingers to people and thrust air to air in the middle of a fight in India. If your idea comes from Bollywood, please stop watching the garbage.
4) Pakistani hockey players were in direct violation of the following of the code of conduct specified by the federation of international hockey, to which every player of every country id a signatory:
Item 2, Clause 2
Item 4, Clause 1
Item 4, Clause 3, subclause a and e.
5) Now, the main question: India could have ignored their behavior and let them go, showing our large hearts. But like the pitch-dancer, ball-biter, mouth-shooter once said, we have small hearts.
This is how you construct a logical argument.
When Pakistani players showed finger to the crowd, that pretty much made cleared that they don't care about the hospitality of the host country. In that case Indian hockey authority had two options, one to never invite Pakistani hockey team in India Or stop organizing such tournament in future and let other countries do the honor. Of course if they had taken the first option, it would have been called a political move and hence they opted for the second one. If FIH thought India was not fair in asking it, they would have refused it. May be next time Pakistan can organize such tournament, of course when security situation allows and then they would be free to show finger to any one they wish on their home soil. Till then better behave.
Wasn't Shahnaz Sheik part of the Pakistani squad that turned its back when German national anthem was played during the olympics finals after Pakistan lost?
You are quoting instances from 90's(old era). When there was nothing much to celebrate in third world country. Stoning by crowd on emotions running high was common but equally condemned never justified. But now It's 2014 and is considered uncouth behaviour, unbecoming of a sportsman to behave like that. And in this case you are wrong to compare the indian crowd reaction to sportsmans reaction. Sports authority is speaking against players who have to follow certain code of conduct on field not police any country crowd actions which you have no control over. But Players represent a nation, a sport. They are supposed to be role models - set example, not behave in such a manner with obscene/lewd hand gestures to hosting crowd on field. About saurabh. He too was equally critisied,just like Harbhajan who slapped srishanth on field after winning. Both were condemned and had to apologise to infinite times for bringing country and sports to disrepute. It's not our country culture. Such behaviour are not tolerated. And indo pak ties and diff from indo UK ties. We didn't fight 4wars, seperate on religion, have terror/ border/disputes between us. So understand the sensitivity. Every small thing leads to fanning of emotions. India recently won hockey Asia cup against pakistan. Had india done same type of behaviour against Pakistani crowd on ground, I would have equally condemned that. I would have been ashamed and disappointed as an indian. Such people can't represent my flag or be my role models. Because it reflects lack of sportsmanship and grace and respect after win. It's instead shows arrogance,bully,smugness that too directed towards general public and host nation not the team. No host country will tolerate it. You win some day you lose someday it's game not war. Do not justify wrongdoings of any sportsman be indian, pakistani or otherwise.