Thirty-one test matches played for India. Highest runs scored in the Ranji Trophy — more than 12,000 — Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup. Batting coach for Kings XI Punjab. Batting coach for the Bangladesh cricket team. His brother, Kalim, is a cricket coach in Mumbai. His nephew, Armaan, played for India in the under-19 team during the 2016 World Cup. His niece, Fatima, also played for Mumbai and India ‘A’. But all Wasim Jaffer’s life and career has boiled down to in 2021 is his religious identity — a Muslim. That’s where his identity starts and finishes now.
If you thought cricket and the armed forces are the two institutions untouched by religion, you might just be in for a rude shock. In the words of Congress’ Rahul Gandhi, cricket has now been marred by hate.
Smearing a cricketer
Wasim Jaffer has been accused of choosing players for the Uttarakhand Team, which he headed till some time ago as a coach, based on religion. Jaffer resigned as coach because he was not being allowed to make the decisions he wanted on player selection and was accused of bias. But the Uttarakhand team manager Navneet Mishra has accused Jaffer of communalising the environment and choosing Muslim players. The player who actually called the Maulvi to conduct the Friday prayers, Iqbal Abdulla, told The Indian Express that it was not Jaffer but Navneet Mishra, the team manager himself, who had allowed the Maulvi to come. Other false allegations like not allowing team players to say “Ram bhakt Hanuman ki jai” have also cropped up. Team players would usually say “Rani Mata Sacche Darbar Ki Jay”, but Wasim Jaffer, as the coach, had suggested they say something for their state like ‘Go Uttarakhand’ because that’s what the players represented.
But all of this seems pointless to discuss because how does one ascertain intentions? Which is why criminals can pass off as ‘deshbhakts’ (patriots), and journalists, activists can be labelled ‘anti-nationals’. As it stands today, Wasim Jaffer has been smeared with the ‘communal’ tag.
In a country where a Hindu monk can be accepted as a chief minister, a government can construct a Ram Mandir, the prime minister can sit in its bhumi pujan, and the president can donate for its construction, cricketers offering their Friday prayers becomes ‘communal’.
The cherry on the cake in these petty accusations is that Jaffer was unhappy about the selector choosing players without his advice. The chief selector himself is a Muslim man named Rizwan Shamshad who was accused by Jaffer of not involving him in selection matters. Jaffer wanted Dikshanshu Negi to be the captain of the Uttarakhand team because he was a local cricketer.
Also read: Charges of communal bias a cover-up, I have played my cricket with dignity — Wasim Jaffer
India together?
In this bizarre scenario of what best can be described as petty internal politics in the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU), communalism has been easily used to taint a person’s integrity. Why? Because the state of affairs right now is so sad that it actually works. The world of cricket is discussing this in whispers, but only a few have spoken up for Wasim Jaffer like Anil Kumble, Manoj Tiwary, Dodda Ganesh, Irfan Pathan, and Mohammad Kaif.
If things were to be only looked at from the parochial lens of communalism, then would Virat Koli not picking Mohammed Shami for the 2019 World Cup semi-final between India and New Zealand be seen as communal bias? Many thought so, but then many also think the Earth is flat. Is Jaffer accused of selecting players with a communal bias just because he is a Muslim, while Virat Kohli dropping a Muslim player is not seen as communal because he is a Hindu? If people start seeing sports for the ‘name’ and ‘identity’ of players instead of their talent, then we’re headed towards a bunch of fanatics taking over our teams.
While he used to be on pitch, it was a tough job for bowlers across teams to get Jaffer out. But in India of today, all it took was a communal spin to send the former Mumbai batsman ‘packing’. The former opener had made his domestic debut in the mid-90s—in an India that was starkly different from today.
What’s sad is that when prominent players like Sachin Tendulkar — who was once Jaffer’s colleague — can speak up against foreign celebrities’ ‘Foreign Destructive Ideology’, they don’t bat an eyelid over the destructive ideology peddled within their own fraternity in their own country.
Also read: Wasim Jaffer, all-time top run-scorer in domestic cricket & former India opener, retires
What’s in a name
It is no coincidence, however, that the loser almost always ends up being from the minority community. Take Danish Kaneria from the Pakistan cricket team, for example. It was only after Shoaib Akhtar pointed out that he was discriminated against in the Pakistan cricket team for being a Hindu and that he was only the second Hindu player who had played for the country that Danish could open up and say that he always felt discriminated against. Dan Christian, Australia’s all-rounder and a member of the Wiradjuri tribe, has also called out the racism and abuse he has experienced while playing for his country.
In early 2019, a few Muslim boys playing cricket in Gurgaon’s Dhamaspur village were told to go “play in Pakistan” and attacked by Gujjar men who objected to them playing in the open. Even though it was not a communal incident according to the villagers, but the phrase used by one shows how the psyche of the common man has significantly shifted.
Gone are the days when young Indian boys wished to be like Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, or Syed Kirmani, hailed as one of the greatest wicketkeepers to have played for India. Or when we were so open-minded that we would buy products advertised by Pakistani Muslim cricketers in India. Former cricketer and now Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan featured in Indian ads of Cinthol, Thums Up, Brooke Bond, and Pepsi!
If sports persons who play for India are being seen communally and not as players representing a diverse nation, we are truly headed to another terrible human tragedy. Much like the one we saw in 1947.
The author is a political observer and writer. Views are personal.
Why did he want to change the slogan to “Go, Uttarakhand”? You should not ask anyone to change their slogans. If a player isn’t willing to praise Rani Mata, he shouldn’t but asking others to not do this is just not done.
Many Indian Military units also have Hindu slogans.
For example, Gorkha regiment’s war cry is “Jai Ma Kali, ayo Gorkhali”
Rajputana Rifles war cry is “Raja Ramachandra ki jai”
Rajput regiment’s war cry is “Bol Bajrang Bali ki jai”
Bihar’s regiment’s war cry is “Jai Bajrang Bali”
J&K rifles war cry is “Durga Mata ki jai!”
Te same Jaffer when not selected for the national team on account of poor form had complained that his non selection was on account of his being muslim. Now he is trying to don a secular face.
I think this article is worse than the fact reported. Wassim Jaffer is respected all over india and will remain so. A few Individuals cannot change that fact. In fact this article is increasing the problem rather than reducing it. And should anyone compare with treatment given to cricketers in any other country? Indians love and hate their cricketers without thinking about their religion. Please don’t add to the fire.
He is a gentleman and a brillient player. All records speak for him. Cricket and religion should not be mixed.
This seems to be a ego clash turned into a mud sledging.
For state and the country this will be very costly. BCCI should ban all involved.
The worst part is inviting Maulvi. This is absurd and smacks of ill-intent. This is is a global problem with establishment,office or any other area that some want to get out for prayers in midst of work or any activity just for show off and solidarity and challenge authorities and normal life. If these people create this kind of disruptions, they can well sit at home instead of creating bad feelings among all and playing victim card. No takers in India for such antics.
This is very irrigation all this communal spin to each and everything seema to be a big agenda run behind the screen. If this is not addressed in the initial stages as the author described this could be a potential for a repeat of 1947. I dont know whats stopping people like tendulkar etc who did not even comment.
What is the need then to bring in maulvi into dressing room, Go do a better reporting facts. Next he will be trying to convert people.
2000 HINDU woman are raped and forcefully converted and men enslaved in pakistan. Such brutality is used to prove how non believers and infidels are to be treated.
THE anger arises out of the fact that due to BJP government and MODIJI there is fear amongst rioters that they will be punished.
Hence this visceral hatred is spewed towards HINDUS by fake propaganda
Data: Duly noted that your mentors are in Pakistan and that you want India to copy Pakisatn !
Bloody anti-national !!!
The silence of the lambs. If some foreign cricketers express sympathy and solidarity with Wasim Jaffer, will the gods of Indian cricket tick them off, say this is India’s internal matter.
#RinkuSharmq
One idiot does something, don’t blame it on others. Blame the person and suggest/take action upon that person. Deshbhakts like me don’t support religion cropping up into areas like these.
Cricket has no religion. Tell that to the ones who invite Maulvis/Maulanas into stadiums.
Nah! Who cares. They should not have appointed a muslim as coach anyway. This is HINDUstan not Pakistan.
Aside the opinionated piece, there are lot of factual inaccuracies in the article –
1. Government is not making the Ram Temple. (although temples across the country are held by government which it should not)
2. Kirmani wasn’t among the greatest keepers who played, by stats even Rahul Dravid who was a part time keeper is better than Kirmani, in the craft of keeping Kirmani was worse off than Nayan Mongia.
3. Anybody can donate to the Ram Temple in his/her personal capacity, one need not to relinquish personal beliefs if one has occupied a public office. By mentioning donations by the President, author is merely dog-whistling like the rest of her jaundiced article.
I hope Jaffer should get justice, if he’s innocent he should be reinstated while the official fired. And if he’s guilty then he should be stripped off of all the records of his playing time under Ranji/team India.
Percussionist:
“.. Kirmani wasn’t among the greatest keepers who played, by stats even Rahul Dravid who was a part time keeper is better than Kirmani, in the craft of keeping Kirmani was worse off than Nayan Mongia ..”
Of course, coming from a bhakth and presumably a Godse worshipper in the Sadhvai Pragya Thaur mould,, such blatantly discriminatory statements do not come as a surprise. Indeed, that is the standard fare they taught you in your shaka.
But your bigoted views apart, your claims about Syed Kirmani and Nayan Mongia can be analysed through the more objective lens of statistics. So here are the stats for Kirmani & Mongia and I restricting myself to Tests:
SYED KIRMANI
TESTS: 88
BATTING AVERAGE: 27.04
HUNDREDS: 2
FIFTIES: 12
CAUGHT : 160
STUMPED: 38
REF: es.pn/2N91nz4
NAYAN MONGIA
TESTS: 44
BATTING AVERAGE: 24.03
HUNDREDS: 1
FIFTIES: 6
CAUGHT : 99
STUMPED: 8
REF: es.pn/3tXatQ9
Indeed, ESPN describes Syed Kirmani as:
“Kirmani was the quietly efficient worker ant who replaced the flamboyant Farokh Engineer behind the stumps for India, and went on to become their greatest wicketkeeper. His 12-year stint at the top saw a sea-change in the way India played. The early part of Kirmani’s career was spent keeping wicket to the famed spin quartet, never the easiest of tasks. After they faded away, he had to step back a few paces to deal with a seam attack spearheaded by Kapil Dev. It is testament to Kirmani’s greatness as a keeper that he was able to perform both roles with distinction. A doughty batsman down the order, he scored two Test hundreds and baled India out on several occasions. He played a crucial role in India’s triumph in the 1983 World Cup, contributing a flourish or two with the bat in addition to being immaculate behind the stumps”
About Nayan Mongia, ESPN writes:
“.. he will probably be remembered more for off-the-field controversies. He was been dropped from the India team for apparently not trying to win a match, suspended after showing dissent at an umpiring decision, and banned after suspicions of being involved in the match-fixing crisis of the late 1990s. He retired at the end of 2004, after being left out by Baroda, his home state.”
Mongia has played fewer games than Kirmani, has a lower batting average than Kirmani. On the average, Mongia has more catches/match whilst Kirmani has more stumpings/match. Additionally, unlike Kirmani, Mongia has not faced the immense challenges that keeping to the famed spin quartet of India entailed.
Finally, you go on to say that the GOI is not making the Ram temple. Nonsense, in many BJP run states, state employees are being “encouraged” to donate to the temple. Of course, for Godse worhsippers, in these terrible economic times, it is neither the pandemic nor the tanking economy that matters – only cows and the temple matter.
First of all cricketers, all of them, play for themselves and BCCI, not for the nation.
As for Jaffer, enough evidence exists for his culpability. What surprises me is people who have zero knowledge about what’s going on in the Uttarakhand cricket board are commenting as if they know in and out of the case.
Percussionist: You bray:
“.. people who have zero knowledge about what’s going on in the Uttarakhand cricket board are commenting as if they know in and out of the case ..”
Care to lay bare your credentials and why you have this insider’s knowledge about Uttarakhand Cricket Board? Are the Board members itchy-testicled bhaiyyas from your own shaka? Do you sit on the Board ?
Looks like you are more communal than even the die hard communal in the country. You have very little or no knowledge of Cricket that’s the reason you don’t know the difference between Kirmani and Mongia. You should learn to give credit where it is deserved. Grow up man
Well said Mr Himmat !
But then, if you have obtained your education in an RSS shaka and have learnt to hate Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits and other lower caste Hindus as “Percussionist” appears to have done, well, such displays of bigotry are completely predictable. People like Percussionist are the online equivalents of Babu Bajrangi, the devil who obtained pleasure by pouring diesel on innocent Muslim women and children and burning them to death. And you can hear this “Hindu” bragging about it here: bit.ly/2NyUEOG
Hope to read more commenst from you Sir !
Utter waste of space and written by someone who knows nothing of sports leave alone cricket . Uttarakhand is a poor team that lost most of its matches in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy ( you heard it right , the biased and communal BCCI has a trophy dedicated to a muslim cricketer to choose India’s best bets in ODIs ) . So blame game turns cynical. BTW, why should anyone call a religious teacher when the team is in a bubble, what next a preacher and a pundit travelling with the team ? Stop copying bad habits of the Pakistanis , who are sick themselves of the backward path their country has taken by public demonstration of religious belief in a sports field . And it leads to stupid counter examples by the majority community in the form of maha arthi and collection for temple. Assimilate , stop growing beard to look different , don’t have to recite kalimas in a sports field . We know you are pure and we respect your belief.
What has happened has happened? Hopefully, it was a case of an association secretary using all means to discredit the coach so that he can come out clean. Unfortunately he used the meanest of tricks possible in an atmosphere vilified by hate.
What is now important is how the BCCI acts? If it doesn’t ask for an investigation and exonerate the innocent and act upon the guilty, then the BCCI will be seen as an accomplice to what has happened.
Yup there should be an impartial probe. We are are so used to communalising every issue that we have started lacking empathy for each other.