Sportsmen condemn attack

AHMEDABAD, Jan 19: Monday's attack on the Mumbai office of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, allegedly perpetrated by the Shiv S...

AHMEDABAD, Jan 19: Monday8217;s attack on the Mumbai office of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, allegedly perpetrated by the Shiv Sena, has elicited all-round condemnation from sportspersons in the State. And the consensus was that politics and sports should be kept strictly separate.

8220;The BCCI incident is shocking. It should never have occurred8221;, said Dheeraj Parsana. 8220;Such incidents were unheard of in my long career as a cricketer.8221;

International cricketer Atul Bedade echoed his sentiments, maintaining that a democracy offered other 8212; and better 8212; to express views. 8220;It is the government8217;s duty to protect sports from violence8221;, he said, adding, however, that show the India-Pakistan cricket series must go on despite Monday8217;s incident.

Former test cricketer Kiran More said, 8220;Let sports be kept apart from politics. As it is, our country is not performing very well in all sports and it is after a long time that India-Pakistan are getting together. We do not need such disturbances to spoil a healthy sporting encounter8221;.

Describing the attack as 8220;absolutely unjustified8221;, national umpire Amish Saheba said, 8220;The manner in which the BCCI office was ransacked and all the trophies broken and tossed around has embarrassed the entire sports-loving fraternity of the country. After all, cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar won those trophies by the sweat of their brow8221;.

Saurashtra Ranji Trophy cricketer Ashok Buch pointed out that cricketers all over the world liked to play in India because of the positive response from the Indian crowd. 8220;And this is the very image that has been badly tarnished8221;.

Speaking about the Shiv Sena8217;s stand vis-a-vis Pakistan, Buch said, 8220;They might think their stand is justified, but the Shiv Sainiks have no right to play spoilsport to air their arguments8221;.

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A cross-section of people Express Newsline spoke to expressed similar opinions. Vijay Singh Katiyar, National School of Design faculty member, said fundamentalism should be discouraged at all costs, especially in the arena of arts and sports. 8220;Moreover, instead of cheering on the Indian team and encouraging them to beat Pakistan, we are bent on disrupting the event. Not playing the match will be as good as losing it8221;, he said.