the pitch By Ramesh Kallidai
“Shivaratri was on the same day, you see,” smiled my neighbour, rather smugly. “That’s why Lord Shiva ensured that India won.”
“We celebrated well into the night,” laughed a friend I met at the Hare Krishna temple the next day. “So don’t wake me if I fall asleep during the morning lecture.”
Many areas like Southall saw hundreds of Indians distributing jalebis and other Indian sweets to passers by – much to the ire of the Pakistani community residing in the same area.
This spirit of patriotism for India, the land of our origins was commendable.
But something gnawed at me – should citizenship of a country dictate which national team one supports?
I asked this question to Neeraj Gandhi, a young airline employee, who is passionate about cricket.
“When India loses to Pakistan, I have seen many Muslim Indians in Bombay celebrating the victory of Pakistan by bursting firecrackers and distributing sweets,” I said in a rather dramatic voice. “Do you think this is right?”
“I think that is disgusting,” he rattled as if he had just breathed fire down a rattle-snake’s neck. “If I had been the Prime Minister of India, I would have taken strong action on people who are so unpatriotic.”
“Ah,” I retorted unambiguously, in the manner of a master magician pulling a trump-card from his sleeve. “When India played England last week at the World cup, which team did you support?”
There was a startling silence in answer to this question. The silence spoke volumes.
“I think I supported India a bit more than England,” Neeraj eventually admitted.
“But don’t you think this is as disgusting as the standard you applied to Muslim Indians supporting Pakistan?” I asked him. “If you think that Indian citizens supporting Pakistan must be penalised by the Prime Minister, surely the same rule applies to British citizens who support India against England.”
“Well, you are right,” agreed Neeraj. “We should really be supporting England.”
Venilal Vaghela, Chair of the Hindu Council of Brent sounded more tolerant.
“There is nothing wrong with supporting a team of your choice – after all its only a sport,” he claimed. “Many British Hindus do the same thing when they support the Indian team instead of the English one. This is because most of us have a deep-rooted sentimental attachment to India, the land of our forefathers.”
Mukesh Tank, a student of Sanskirt in SOAS protested at my attempts to draw parallels between British Indians and Indian Muslims.
“But you can’t really compare the two – India and Pakistan are political rivals. They consider each other their enemy. Therefore supporting the national Cricket team takes on a serious political and religious undertone,” he explained patiently. “India and Britain are a completely different ball-game. They have excellent relations, and there is no rivalry.”
“Does that make it more agreeable for British citizens to support the Indian team?”
“Well, its only a sport,” he sighed and paused to collect his thoughts. “And yes, you are right. British Indians should support the English team when it plays India.”
This does lead on to an important question of loyalty for British Hindus with overlapping identities.
We are British and owe allegiance to the Queen.
We are also Hindus and have a sentimental attachment to India.
Where should our loyalties lie when it comes to making a crucial choice between the two countries? Obviously, our nationality should take precedence over our ancestoral links – although the latter is as important for our identity as the former.
Jawad Hussain, the father of the England Cricket Captain, Nasser Hussain had made this very clear in a recent interview on the BBC.
“ I don’t mind Asian kids supporting India or Pakistan or wherever their fathers or grandfathers came from when they are playing each other,” he said. “But when England are playing, these youngsters should support England, because they are not going to play for India or Pakistan. I always ask kids where they are born. If they say England, then they should support England.”
A few years ago, Lord Tebbit, the former Conservative cabinet minister, had devised a “cricket test” to examine the loyalties of British Asians, insisting that they support England.
I was suddenly woken out of my reverie. My friend Neeraj had suddenly decided to let me have a taste of my own medicine.
“And what team did you support in the last match between India and England?” he asked me with a twist to his voice.
“I never watched the match,” I replied with a glint in my eye.
“You are just trying to avoid the answer,” he concluded gleefully. “At least I support England in football.”
O
M
E