We miss irony even if it smacks us across our face! Like what happened just now.
The Indian Professional League’s (IPL) second season shifted out of India citing elections to the Indian parliament and the inability of the state machinery to provide the required security cover for the cricket matches, given the election commitments.
India has an area of nearly 3.3 million square kilometers with a population upwards of a billion with the electorate itself numbering 714 million. There is no way this can be a single day exercise. We are in the middle of the five phase polling. It is a logistical nightmare, shifting security forces across the vast nation and all that. And, time after time, we have succeeded.
And, we are doing it under elevated security concerns, most of them home grown, except in the border areas. And, in the post- Mumbai attack climate, the authorities were well advised not to divert attention from security for elections to other engagements, like the IPL.
Where did we shift the IPL to? To South Africa. I, for one, am glad because I get to ogle at Ms. Mandira Bedi! I do not know who I would have been forced to leer at had the season been shifted to England, the other alternative. Thank god for small mercies.
This is where irony stares us in our face. South Africa occupies an area of little more than 1.2 million square kilometers and has a population of less than 50 million. Its voting population is less than 24 million. That is, the South African democratic exercise is no more than 3% the size of India’s. And, the area to be covered is marginally greater than one third of Inda's.
The second season of IPL is book ending the South African national elections, held yesterday, in a single phase. This was one in which there was the real opportunity for the population to show displeasure at the ruling dispensation. And, you know what happens under such conditions in countries of that continent. Violence, polling violence. And to add to the complications, South Africa is indeed crime infested. Yet, the cricket matches are continuing, quite smoothly. So far, no one has commented on this aspect.
If you ever wanted to understand the dimensions of Indian elections, the current situation is as good a starting point as any. Let us recognize the irony first, though. Shifting from amidst national polls in India to book ending a similar exercise in South Africa.
Raghuram Ekambaram
2 comments:
Thank you for the link Raghu. Yes, there is irony in what you pointed out,Raghu.The biggest irony indeed is Indian Premier League series being held outside Indian soil. That is is held in SA is inconsequential, according to me.
But may be, because I am part of the system, I am happy that IPL and the Elections are not happening simultaneously in India, the latter need undivided focus.
Thanks Aditi, yes, undivided attention to security details is the absolute requirement to support this democractic exercise. As you said, the Indian league is being played in South Africa and that too is an irony.
Please visit this space as and when.
Raghuram Ekambaram
P.S Mandakolathur is my maternal ancestral village and Kolipakkam is my paternal. I am balanced, wouldn't you say?
Post a Comment