Not a sporty act

A law to administer sports may be a preposterous idea, but the logic is clearly escaping some Indian states. The Uttar Pradesh and Himachal ...

A law to administer sports may be a preposterous idea, but the logic is clearly escaping some Indian states. The Uttar Pradesh and Himachal governments on lines of Rajasthan have passed Sports Acts to take over all sports bodies, a move guaranteed to subvert the progress of sports in these states. Why Uttar Pradesh wishes to override sports bodies like Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association is beyond logic. The state has 5 players in the Indian under-19 national team and players like Mohammed Kaif are already in national team. Their team even made it to Ranji Trophy finals.

Thankfully, the matter is still pending and I hope the apex court will save the sport from the clutches of yet another politician-bureaucrat nexus. It appears that certain politicians, blinded by glamour of cricket, desire to capture control of cricket by hook or crook.The act is merely a thinly-veiled ploy to garner control over the cricket body, but the resistance is not just limited to BCCI. Even IOC is deeply upset and has decided not to award any sport event to any destinations in UP (read Noida or Ghaziabad) in the forthcoming Commonwealth Games. The IOC charter strictly prohibits state intervention in matters of sport.

This is precisely the reason we must congratulate the recent judgment from Supreme Court declaring BCCI as an autonomous body free from state control. The BCCI today stands tall among the Indian sporting bodies precisely because of the fact that it has never taken a single penny from any government, and therefore is totally free of government interference. Government funding for other sports bodies ensures government supervision, and the resultant state of these other sports is not hidden from anybody. Everybody knows the money from departments of sports which is meant for players’ fitness gets siphoned off.It is rare to find a team selection go smoothly without allegations of money changing hands or recruitment orders disguised as recommendations.

Air traffic jam

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I am glad that Air India is finally going ahead with fleet addition of 50 new aircraft. The move has been delayed beyond a point, but is nevertheless a welcome development for country’s flagship carrier. More aircraft will naturally mean more market share. The airline will now suddenly find itself competitive from the stage when it was forced to dole out lucrative routes to other carriers, simply because it had no aircraft to fly. Not just that, most aircraft from the current 26-strong fleet are decades old and eat up huge monies on maintenance and repairs, and once AI retires them, profitability will even improve.

In the domestic market, entry of new players like Kingfisher, Air Deccan combined with an already well-entrenched and highly successful Jet is bound to turn the heat on Indian Airlines. Majority of these players are bringing in shiny new aircraft and Indian Airlines’ aging fleet is bound to put off potential fliers. I would like to see a speedy approval of new aircraft purchase for Indian Airlines. As soon as the two airlines take off in the market, their IPOs should be brought out by next year.

Once IA acquires a new fleet, even Alliance Air can be transformed from a passenger to a cargo airline. Alliance Air has had bad press recently for its aging aircraft. The situation was so grave that its pilots refused to fly to Leh last year citing security reasons.

Man of faith

One of the stars of President Musharraf’s entourage during his recent India visit was Dr. Aamir Liaquat Hussain, the dapper Pakistani Minister for religious affairs. The foreign-educated and suit-clad minister charmed his audiences wherever he went with his forward-looking and modern views on matters of religion. The blue-eyed boy of President Musharraf, Dr. Hussain is secular to the core and was handpicked by Musharraf for his breathtaking knowledge of religions. He has read Holy Quran, Vedas and other Hindu scriptures.

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At the dinner hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he and I sat on one table along with Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of state in PMO and Rani Mukherjee from Bollywood. Everybody was amazed to discover his knowledge about Hindu religion. Throughout the banquet, he told the Indians about the religious importance of Holi, Diwali and other Hindu festivals. He was glad to tell how he took initiatives to celebrate the Hindu festivals in Pakistan, and that he has even anchored television shows based on the Hindu festivals.

The writer is Congress Rajya Sabha MP. He can be reached at shuklarajeev@gmail.com