"How can we keep quite over this humiliating episode? The Karnataka police have behaved in an extremely irresponsible manner. We will seek an unconditional apology from them for this unwise act,” JKCA secretary general, Muhammad Saleem Khan, told TSI.
He added: “I personally know the boys of our team; they are all professionals, it is impossible for them to indulge in any unlawful activity as they don’t have time to concentrate on such things. How can one accept the police claim as true? Our players underwent security frisking at four airports before reaching Bangalore. Why did no alarm go off anywhere else?”
Mr Khan is baffled at the national media hype that erupted over the incident. “If they had any information about our boys, the police should have handled the issue discreetly. It seems they were trying to defame Kashmiri cricketers by making an unnecessarily hue and cry,” he said.
He said Union Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah, who is the patron of JKCS, was very quick to react over the detention of Kashmiri players in Bangalore. However Abdullah said that the Bangalore police alone could not be blamed as “they were fed with wrong information by some people from here.”
While asking the Director-General of J&K Police to investigate, Dr Abdullah said that he suspected the “hand of those who could not find a place in the team”.
The Bangalore episode has deeply irritated cricket lovers in Kashmir. As soon as word spread, violent protests and clashes erupted in several areas of Srinagar city. Groups of youth came on to the streets and staged demonstrations against the Bangalore police, demanding the safe return of the Valley players.
Both mainstream and separatist politicians, too, have voiced their annoyance. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has alleged that Kashmiri cricketers were being made “scapegoats.”
"It is not that we are kepping silent on this. We have been on the job since the moment we received the news about the detention of the two boys. The episode has rubbed salt into the wounds of the people in the Valley,” Omar told the media in Srinagar.
The chief Muslim cleric of Kashmir and chairman of a faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, while terming the incident unfortunate said it is regrettable that Kashimi youth are being victimised outside the Valley. “If the dialogue process goes on we will raise this issue and will press New Delhi to stop such things,” Mirwaiz said.
People's Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti told TSI: “It’s an emotional, psychological and physical alienation, and these things rub salt into our wounds. Our cricketers are our stars, if they are not safe in the rest of country, then who else is?”
The unfortunate Bangalore incident could have been avoided with a bit of tact. The ruckus may not have really been about politics alone, but what happened to the two budding Kashmiri cricketers at the Chinnaswamy Stadium certainly wasn’t cricket. It was probably symptomatic of a deep-rooted prejudice against boys from the Valley. It is quite clear that the challenges that Kashmir’s young cricketers face are not confined to the field of play alone. They go well beyond the sporting arena.
He added: “I personally know the boys of our team; they are all professionals, it is impossible for them to indulge in any unlawful activity as they don’t have time to concentrate on such things. How can one accept the police claim as true? Our players underwent security frisking at four airports before reaching Bangalore. Why did no alarm go off anywhere else?”
Mr Khan is baffled at the national media hype that erupted over the incident. “If they had any information about our boys, the police should have handled the issue discreetly. It seems they were trying to defame Kashmiri cricketers by making an unnecessarily hue and cry,” he said.
He said Union Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah, who is the patron of JKCS, was very quick to react over the detention of Kashmiri players in Bangalore. However Abdullah said that the Bangalore police alone could not be blamed as “they were fed with wrong information by some people from here.”
While asking the Director-General of J&K Police to investigate, Dr Abdullah said that he suspected the “hand of those who could not find a place in the team”.
The Bangalore episode has deeply irritated cricket lovers in Kashmir. As soon as word spread, violent protests and clashes erupted in several areas of Srinagar city. Groups of youth came on to the streets and staged demonstrations against the Bangalore police, demanding the safe return of the Valley players.
Both mainstream and separatist politicians, too, have voiced their annoyance. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has alleged that Kashmiri cricketers were being made “scapegoats.”
"It is not that we are kepping silent on this. We have been on the job since the moment we received the news about the detention of the two boys. The episode has rubbed salt into the wounds of the people in the Valley,” Omar told the media in Srinagar.
The chief Muslim cleric of Kashmir and chairman of a faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, while terming the incident unfortunate said it is regrettable that Kashimi youth are being victimised outside the Valley. “If the dialogue process goes on we will raise this issue and will press New Delhi to stop such things,” Mirwaiz said.
People's Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti told TSI: “It’s an emotional, psychological and physical alienation, and these things rub salt into our wounds. Our cricketers are our stars, if they are not safe in the rest of country, then who else is?”
The unfortunate Bangalore incident could have been avoided with a bit of tact. The ruckus may not have really been about politics alone, but what happened to the two budding Kashmiri cricketers at the Chinnaswamy Stadium certainly wasn’t cricket. It was probably symptomatic of a deep-rooted prejudice against boys from the Valley. It is quite clear that the challenges that Kashmir’s young cricketers face are not confined to the field of play alone. They go well beyond the sporting arena.
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