Security worry is temporary, can`t be permanent

Ayaz Memon While it is reasonable to assume that murky politics surrounding the impending general elections have been at work at the subterranean level in determining the fate of the Indian Premier League this year, it may not have been the only factor at play. Indeed, any political party seen as spoilsport in this matter has more to lose than gain. For a cricket-obsessed country, the decision to take the IPL away from India may be hard to digest, yet only the most obscure logic would put the tournament above national security. Despite the hysteria being generated by politicians from either side of the divide now to gain brownie points, just perhaps it were the intelligence agencies which clinched the issue. Mumbai`s 26/11 horror is still fresh in memory and what happened in Lahore last month with the Sri Lankan team showed that while cricketers may be demi-Gods in the sub-continent, this is no insurance against terrorism. The IPL`s mandarins are crying foul, but that could well be because they never anticipated any adverse decision against the tournament, believing that the craze for cricket would override all problems. Given the circumstances that we live in these days, that was being somewhat presumptuous. The elections being timed simultaneously with the tournament was a stroke of massive bad luck, and once that had happened the IPL was always on a sticky wicket. Remember, the ICC and several cricket boards have already started working for getting Pakistan omitted as one of the host countries for the World Cup though that is still two years away. Concerns about security and safety, especially in the sub-continent, have become as much the staple diet of conversation as money and opportunity among cricketers across the world. That said, this does not augur well for sport in India in the long run. What is the guarantee that there will not be mid-term polls when the Commonwealth Games are to be held in 2010, or when the cricket World Cup is to be staged in 2011? International programmes cannot be altered at the last minute without collateral damage to image. Security issues have to be addressed, and quickly, if the country is to become not just a major destination for sports, but for everything connected with Indian life.