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Indians resorting to jingoism at Sri Lankan cricketers vomiting from Delhi smog is puke-worthy

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DailyBiteDec 05, 2017 | 20:47

Indians resorting to jingoism at Sri Lankan cricketers vomiting from Delhi smog is puke-worthy

It's extremely distressing to see political pettiness emanating from ultra-nationalism usurping a pressing issue like the national capital's pollution crisis.

Delhi is no stranger to smog and the associated controversies engulfing it, but it seems air pollution has been slow-poisoning more than just our collective lungs. If waking up in the morning feels much like having smoked 30 cigarettes already, here's India waking up to another fallout of the national capital's terrifying pollution crisis: more jingoism.

Ever since the third test match between India and Sri Lanka - organised at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla stadium - was halted, after players from the visiting team complained about the horrible air quality, which made them breathless, Indians online, TV anchors as well as the BCCI, started displaying their petty ultra-nationalist credentials. As the Sri Lankan coach Nic Pothas complained that his team players were "coming off the field vomiting", and soon, Lankan players sported face masks in what became a defining image of the times, the responses from the Indians have been less than charitable.

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With concentrations of particulate matter and airborne pollutants at 384 - 15 times the World Health Organisation prescribed "maximum" - the Lankans, naturally, fell sick. The game was halted for 20 minutes when the players returned wearing face masks. The Lankans - unused to such high level of air toxicity - repeatedly consulted doctors, complained of respiratory problems, feeling choked, nausea and vomiting. This only came to an end when Virat Kohli-led Indian side declared the match at 536 for seven wickets, and the Lankan fielders got some respite, if not a literal breather.

Pothas said: "There were oxygen cylinders in the change room. It's not normal for players to suffer in that way while playing the game. I think it's the first time that everybody has come across that situation. There aren't too many rules regarding pollution. What we are going to do tomorrow is in the hands of the match referee. They will have meetings tonight to put in some sort of a precedent if it happens like this tomorrow."

While Pothas raises an important issue - that of environmental problems such as air pollution, excessive rain, excessive heat, among others, becoming non-negotiable factors within sports, affecting players' health, giving those "used to the pollution levels" an advantage over the unaccustomed visiting team, pollution is a new entrant in this hall of fame. This is why seasoned commentators, including the celebrated Ayaz Memon, have red-flagged the issue, saying the dramatic scenes of Lankan players wearing masks on the field sent an "unedifying message about Delhi's pollution".

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However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), much like the online trolls and Indian fans who latched on later, accused the visiting side of "making a big fuss". The BCCI's response was as disgusting as it was alarming, dismissing the health hazards faced by the Lankans as losers' tantrums, and ignoring how Delhi's killer smog imperils the well-being of everybody, irrespective of one's nationality.

"If 20,000 people in the stands did not have problem and the Indian team did not face any issue, I wonder why Sri Lankan team made a big fuss?" said CK Khanna, acting BCCI president, as reported by The Times of India. Spectators at Kotla stadium booed the islanders, while on social media, Indian fans expressed their "frustration", accusing the Lankans of being melodramatic.

Compromising health

Both the BCCI's and the Indian fans' responses were symptomatic of the times we live in. Even as a picture of Delhi's top doctors wearing masks and taking a stand on the national capital's emergency-level pollution problem was published on the front page of India's leading English daily, the reaction to Lankans falling sick has exposed how we take everyone's health for granted, including that of our guests.

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While the political tug-of-war between Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab and Haryana chief ministers Amarinder Singh and ML Khattar hogged the national headlines, the BCCI's idiotic, and frankly disgusting, response betrayed how the pollution crisis is being brushed aside. In fact, braving the pollution has become a nationalist fad of its own, with 30,000 runners competing in the Delhi half-marathon last month being gushingly covered by an admiring media, despite the strong health warnings.

We need to ask why when authorities have mulled closing schools and factories in Delhi for a while, regulating vehicular movement, and generally accepting the international bad press as inevitable, would the BCCI not consider the Lankans' health troubles as genuine, and worthy of immediate redressal? Is the richest cricketing board in the world also so myopic that it would bask in the reflected glory of its players being habituated to the poison in the air, and try and pass that off as a new sporting standard?

Jingoism at large

But what the BCCI left unsaid, the trolls online followed up with gusto. From accusing the Lankans of playing "dirty tricks to avoid a loss", to saying they are indulging in "childish behaviour", the Indian cricket fans have exposed their ugly side once again.

Even a face mask manufacturing company used this opportunity to declare that the match shouldn't be halted as there was no reason for doing so.

This jingoism is just a different version of the blind nationalism that has come to inform each and every aspect of cricket, and in fact, every other game. For example, in June this year, when Pakistan won the ICC Champions Trophy against India at the Oval in London, the ultra-nationalist sickness spread through Indian TV and social media, and jingoists made an issue of some Kashmiris bursting firecrackers to celebrate Pakistan's win.

It's sad when a country is represented by a board and populated by persons who cannot distinguish between a major health hazard and sporting obstruction, which is Delhi pollution, and sportsmanship in general, the sporting spirit that blurs national boundaries and unites people rather than divides them. until we are handcuffed by jingoism, neither pollution, nor a South Asian solidarity, would make us rally for a worthy cause.

Last updated: December 05, 2017 | 20:47
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