Imran Khan can give Mani Shankar Aiyar serious competition when it comes to classism

Imran Khan | @ZarlashtFaisal/Twitter

Like Aiyar’s neech remark, Khan once pointed out how English cricketers of class had no complaints against him, only the ones “below-stairs” did. 

Mani Shankar Aiyar’s defence of his “neech aadmi” remark about Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one that only Mani could have come up with: “I am Macaulay’s child (so I think in English), my Hindi isn’t so good, so I may not have understood the correct implication of the word ‘neech’. So, if it has a meaning that is offensive, I apologise.”

Usually, Mani’s Hindi is excellent, including in public speaking. So, I am not sure this will wash.

But it brings back to mind a somewhat similar situation involving another prominent South Asian almost 25 years ago. Except, that one ended up in a celebrated libel trial in London.

Speaking with me on tape in his upmarket London apartment, Pakistani cricket star Imran Khan answered many questions freely on a controversy involving him. Ivo Tennant’s biography of him had just been published. It made news for Imran’s admission/revelation of having used ball tampering tactics.

He spoke at great length on how, if this was cheating, then everybody cheated. He said that ‘White’ countries were now complaining when non-White countries had fast bowlers (mainly Pakistanis) and were using the same tactics.

He also brought back the John Lever ‘Vaseline’ incident when he destroyed Indian batting with a suspiciously swinging ball in Chennai (1977) and Bishen Singh Bedi was condemned by the English media for complaining.

There is a lot of racism here, he said. He also pointed out that cricketers and commentators of class, Mike Brearley, Tony Lewis, Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Derek Pringle—all Oxbridge types—had no complaints against him.

It is only English cricketers of the “below-stairs” class like Ian Botham, Alan Lamb, Fred Truman who would have problems, he said.

Now, like “neech” apparently for a Macaulay-putra, the nuance of “below-stairs class” was lost on us poor non-Oxbridge types. Until Lamb and Botham filed their celebrated libel case against Imran in London.

We were approached—and enticed—by both sides, to come and stand in the witness box. Imran, and his former wife Jemima Khan, wanted us to say that we had misquoted him and thereby save a friend.

We were going to do no such thing.

The other side, similarly, pleaded with us (with incentives) to come, stand by the interview, and turn in the tape.

We decided to do no such thing either. I sealed the tiny, matchbox-size audio-cassette in an envelope, and left it in my editor, Aroon Purie’s, custody. We took an institutional decision to only appear if summoned by the court. And if we did, we would speak the truth and turn over the tape and transcripts. We were not going as anybody’s chosen witness, our travel and time underwritten by them.

As things turned out, it worked out well for Imran. He won the case.

We had, meanwhile, learnt the nuance of that typically English insult, “below-stairs class”. Apparently, in British homes in the past, domestic help used to sleep under the staircase.

I believe the generation brought up on Harry Potter now would have figured it. We didn’t.

I can never be sure if Imran also knew the exact meaning, or defended himself saying he didn’t. If he did, he obviously had more success in convincing the jury, than Mani may have convincing his critics in the BJP now.

All you would say is, at least both of them, Mani and Imran, are people of “class”. One from Oxford, the other from Cambridge. Even if, in the case of Imran, it was probably from what would today be called ‘the sports quota’.