'Sach'in ka saamna

Now the beleaguered Bal Thackeray latest target is Sachin Tendulkar. The cricket icon had said that he was proud of his Maharashtrian roots, but he was an Indian and that Mumbai was for Indians. Damage done. Why did you do this to the Marathi manoos, Mr Tendulkar? You have hurt their pride. Well, the Sena tiger seems to feel that way. And, he has sharpened his claws for a fresh parochial game in the political field.
Bal Thackeray, licking his wounds from the Assembly election debacle, is desperately currying favour with the Marathi manoos who crept into the rival Thackeray camp. And, he is willing to raise his parochial pitch to level scores. This time he chose to strike at the prodigious batsman for his patriotic statement that, according to the Shiv Sena chief, lacked regional flavour.
The media is thanking Thackeray senior for writing an explosive editorial on Sachin’s “Mumbai for Indians” comment. It was a dull Monday evening, where nothing really volatile was cooking that could hog primetime. And then, Saamna’s harsh editorial against Sachin’s remarks had enthusiastic (read loud) television anchors screaming in support of our hero and getting valuable sound bytes from erstwhile Marathi cricket players to rally for Sachin. Why sound bytes only from former Marathi cricket players? Why not from cricket players, irrespective of their region?
It is a fact that every sport has been sucked into regional chauvinism. In 2006, when Sourav Ganguly was dropped from the Indian cricket team, the West Bengal chief minister had called a press conference to highlight how the royal Bengal tiger was “ill-treated”. He had said he was “unnecessarily insulted and humiliated”. He had even taken up the matter with the then former BCCI chief, Sharad Pawar. All because the Bengali pride was at stake.
Just do a simple trial: Talk ill about Sourav to a Bengali, and get ready to be mauled by the community.
A P.T. Usha is Kerala’s pride, while Kapil Dev is a Haryana hurricane. Chess wizard Viswanathan Anand is the Chennai boy even if he spends most of his time in his European villa? Regionalism is so ingrained in our system that we are forced to dilute the Indian identity of the achievers.
The Thackeray rivals are now playing the “I said it first” game between themselves. Raj Thackeray last week had warned the State Bank of India against filling up its seats in Maharashtra with non-Maharashtrians. The bank conducted its entrance test yesterday, thankfully without any disturbances, unlike last year. There is, however, no mention in the media of any assurance from the State Bank of India.
There have been a series of incidents that has bruised the image of the Maratha manoos on the national stage. So when Sachin made this comment, it was like a balm on the battered Marathi image. But Bal Thackeray, in his quest to prove he is a better Maratha champion, had to attempt a googly at Sachin. So far, Sachin has made no comment on this parochial madness. As former cricketer Sanjay Manjarekar has said the Sena’s statement does not deserve to be commented upon. Hope Sachin keeps his dignified silence, which could be loud slap on the senior Thackeray’s Maratha face.