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Journalism of Courage
MUMBAI, February 24: “We are the parents. They are our children. Sometimes they get angry with us and leave us. Now that they have come back, we embrace them,” PS Sujalana, committee member of the Bombay Hockey Association (BHA) said today.
He was reacting to the truce struck between BHA and the break-away Hockey Association of Mumbai (HAM) yesterday evening. A terse press statement, signed jointly by BHA and HAM officials, said: “All existing differences have been resolved amicably to the satisfaction of both parties.” “My president (DS Bakshi) and secretary (KL Passi) have done a good thing,” Sujalana said today. HAM president, Olympian Iqbaljit Singh Grewal, said: “We took a drastic step two years ago. There was a communication gap between us. At last, better sense has prevailed.”
The mood at the BHA today was upbeat. Gone was the acrimony that led to HAM and BHA conducting parallel leagues last year — a step that heightend the woes of a beleaguered local league which experienced a three-yeardrought in the absence of an astroturf.
Sujalana and Iqbaljit sat together in the BHA office, swapped anecdotes on the hockey scene in Amritsar and Australia, and exulted Maharashtra’s historic first women’s gold and men’s silver at the Imphal National Games today, the first instance when both teams entered the final.
The elderly Sujalana caught the pulse under the nub of his finger when he said, “I am a much relieved man now. All these days, I would leave home soon after lunch and come here to run the shop. Now that we can utilise the services of these young men, I can turn up late in the afternoon. I am very happy.”
Iqbaljit, resplendent in a light blue patka and matching jeans, said, “This (truce) has not come about overnight. All through the year, I have been visiting BHA, spending 10-15 minutes here, talking to the seniors here. There were some people on both sides who wanted to delay the agreement.”Iqbaljit explained he and Olympian Joaquim Carvalho, HAM secretary, took the initiative toapproach BHA after they gauged the impact of the rift on grassroots hockey. “Some school teams were run by BHA people, some by HAM. These small boys would be told not to take part in tournaments run by the opposite camp. How would the boys know who a president or secretary was? We realised hockey was suffering.”
Iqbaljit, who has been appointed coach and selector of the Bombay side, spelt out the dynamics of a reunited BHA. “Our main wish was that we (former players and clubs) should run local hockey. The BHA agreed. The composition of the management and administrative committee will not change, but we players will have a big say in committees that will run the game. We intend to set up a senior tournament committee, junior selection committee to get players and clubs involved.”
Iqbaljit, however, warned that all this would be useless until the BHA relays the astroturf. “You cannot run hockey on grass, we have realised that. Once we have a ground, you will see a sea change. Schools, university hockeywill flourish.”
The BHA is tackling the ticklish astroturf issue with renewed vigour. The replacement turf has been lying rolled up due to lack of surface glue, which is being indented. BHA secretary KL Passi said, “Once we lay this turf, it can go on for three-four years. By that time, we will be ready to replace it.”
