Playing hockey in India

Last month, Pakistan’s players were deprived of the opportunity of featuring in the Kabaddi World Cup. The reason: India was hosting the event and decided to bar the Pakistan team from the event which was held in Ahmadabad. Next month, the story could be repeated with this time the victims being Pakistan’s junior hockey players. There is growing uncertainty over whether Pakistan will be able to feature in the 16-nation Junior World Cup hockey tournament penciled in from December 8-18 in the Indian city of Lucknow. Though the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has confirmed its participation in the quadrennial tournament, a final decision on whether the team will cross the border will be dependent on the will of the two governments. As far as Pakistan is concerned there seems a big likelihood that Islamabad will give its go-ahead considering that it has been advocating the idea of separating sports from politics. The problem is that New Delhi doesn’t agree. The Indians severed cricketing ties with Pakistan over issues like cross-border terrorism post the Mumbai attacks and are now targeting other sports as well in the aftermath of the Pathankot and Uri terror attacks in the recent past.

One hopes that better sense prevails and India decides against blocking Pakistan’s participation in the Junior World Cup. It will be a blow for Pakistan but in the long run it could also affect India as the Junior World Cup is an International Hockey Federation (FIH) event for which a host country makes a commitment to allow all participating nations to take part. India’s status as an international hockey destination could be in jeopardy if its bars Pakistan from taking part in the Junior World Cup. Apart from India’s aversion to allow Pakistan’s sportspersons from competing on its soil, there is also the critical issue of player safety. Narendra Modi’s India has quickly garnered the reputation for being an unsafe place because of growing extremism and intolerance. That is why it was hardly surprising when extremist groups openly warned against Pakistan playing in Lucknow. This means that the visitors will need extraordinary security measures if they do take part in the tournament. India should not only allow Pakistan to compete in Lucknow but also ensure the safety of the players and officials. Sport, as they say, can build bridges, transcend borders and cultures and turn even the fiercest conflicts temporarily irrelevant. It would be great for our region if the Indians understood this sooner rather than later.