Sport and politics may be strange bedfellows but the twain do meet awkwardly at times. Just as the Indian bowlers were gaining a stranglehold over the Sri Lankan batsmen in a World Cup game at Headingley here on Saturday morning, there was a rumble in the skies.
The third over was in progress when a small aircraft flew over the ground towing a banner that read “Justice for Kashmir”. As the import of the political message sunk in, a lull ensued before the match continued with its own innate rhythm.
Just as the aerial propaganda was being considered a one-off incident, and Sri Lanka struggled following the fall of the fourth wicket, the plane reappeared and did two sorties circling the ground. The 17th over was being bowled and this time the slogan was more strident: “India stop genocide, free Kashmir”.
The International Cricket Council promptly issued a statement: “We are incredibly disappointed this has happened again. We do not condone any sort of political messages at the ICC men’s cricket World Cup. Throughout the tournament we have worked with local police forces around the country to prevent this type of protest occurring. After the previous incident we were assured by West Yorkshire Police there would not be repeat of this issue, so we are very dissatisfied it has happened again.”
It may be recalled that a similar intrusion through the clouds had happened at the same venue on June 29. Pakistan and Afghanistan were locked in a contest that the former eventually won but the face-off is being remembered more for what happened off the field. There was a scuffle between Pakistani and Afghan fans and incidentally a plane then had flown with the following message: “Justice for Balochistan”.
Back then the ICC declared: “We work with local police forces around the country to prevent this type of incident occurring and were assured that given Headingley is under the flight path for the Leeds Bradford Airport it would not be an issue. We do not condone any sort of political messages at the ICC men’s cricket World Cup and will work with West Yorkshire police to deal with and understand why this has happened and to ensure it does not happen again.”
Obviously, the precautionary measures failed and a tournament known for pure sport has been dragged into an avoidable political game of smoke and mirrors on the periphery. Much later, while Indian openers Rohit Sharma and K.L. Rahul cruised, the plane returned and the banner read: “Help end mob lynching in India.”
