Flagging a petty mindset

How ignorant could all of us have been? All this while, all these years, great affront was being meted out to the most visible symbol of Indian nationhood. And we did not even know. Never mind, correctives are in place. In a quick burst of vigilantism, the Union home ministry has dived into cricketers’ kit bags to rescue the Tricolour from gross contamination. No longer, the ministry has decreed, will cricketers be allowed to wear the flag on their gear. Look at the disrespect that’s been averted. The next time Irfan Pathan packs up after a long day in the field, the tiny Tricolour painted on his helmet will not sit within defilement distance of a pair of muddy spikes in his kit bag. And when Saurav Ganguly delivers what’s becoming a rather rare commodity — a victory — he will not be permitted to bare his chest and wave a sweaty Tricolour-emblazoned T-shirt in celebration. No, the Flag Code has been dusted off, and the saffron-white-and-the-green will flutter decorously at a safe distance. After this job well done, what’s next? Will the ministry consolidate its pro-activism and issue a code on throaty renditions of the national anthem?

It would have been absurd enough if the home ministry’s instructions had been based on a sense of misplaced patriotism. After all, it took the Supreme Court’s intervention on a petition filed by Navin Jindal to force the government to allow people to raise the Tricolour in private establishments. An anxious nationalism has over the decades kept symbols like the flag in the government’s trusteeship. In effect, this has replaced the people’s sovereignty over the Tricolour. Therefore, the home ministry’s intervention indicates that a totalitarian distrust of popular empowerment persists. But the ministry is, by all indications, also driven by vengeance. The BCCI’s contention that its affairs and team selection don’t come under state control was recently endorsed by the courts. Presumably, the government’s point is: if it is Team BCCI and not Team India, it cannot harness Indian symbols.

Ironically, this issue comes amidst another shot of cricket diplomacy. During the India-Pakistan series last year, players and crowds respected the flag by showing enormous goodwill. What a pity that the government has withdrawn trust from them.