Cricket or Polls - should we choose ?

In a nation where both Cricket and politics rank high on national obsession/religion/way of life, the Home Minister’s request to Cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL) to postpone it’s matches has generated heated discussions.

Home Ministry requested the postponement following the attacks on Sri Lankan Cricketers in Lahore, Pakistan. The government feared that the two major events (i.e. Lok Sabha polls and IPL matches) will stretch the security forces thin. While the IPL has not officially changed it’s schedule, it has agreed to ensure that their schedule doesn’t clash with the five phases of the election.

• No IPL matches 48 hours before polling: Modi, Press Trust of India, Mar 3, 2009‎
• All 14 gunmen escape after deadly attack on Sri Lankan cricketers,, Times Online, Mar 3, 2009‎

The UPA government’s request has aroused mixed emotions, with some supporting this request given the terrorist threat, while others rejecting this as a failure of the government to provide security.

• No, home minister, Editorial, Indian Express, Mar 5 2009
• Pull out all the stumps, Vir Sanghvi Hindustan Times, Mar 5 2009

IPL’s claim that it will take care of the security sounds rather far fetched. IPL cannot ensure the safety of each and every viewer back to their houses. The security forces will have to be deployed if a large number of people travel to and from the Cricket stadium. If security forces have to be deployed back-to-back for the matches and elections, they are bound to be over-worked and exhausted.

In an ideal world, we should be able to hold the elections and the IPL matches simultaneously. However, given the neighbourhood we live in and the major impact this election will have on the average Indian; IPL’s insistence on continuing with their schedule regardless of the strain they will put on the Security forces comes across as very selfish.