By Sheikh Imran Bashir, Agence India Press
Srinagar: Kashmir’s senior cricket officials were left fuming, after the Services cricket team did not turn up for a match scheduled in Srinagar.
The Services team, representing the armed forces, refused to play the Ranji Trophy match in Kashmir, citing security concerns.
The pulling out of Services team drew angry reactions from Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Indian Federal Minister for New and Renewable Energy and President of Jammu & Kashmir cricket association, who said, it would send out a wrong signal at a time when the government was projecting Kashmir safe.
“I feel very sad. I feel sad and I feel angry, both things that Services team hasn’t come. All our boys are ready, umpires have all arrived, and everybody is here, except the team. It’s sad and they have said that the conditions are not conducive for us to come. What do you want? What conditions are not conducive? Ambassadors came, who are from foreign countries, and they did not feel threatened. We had so many tournaments of golf here, they did not feel threatened. How is it that they felt threatened? Who told them not to come? This should be investigated and I’ll tell Prime Minister as well as Defence Minister as per their statements and the services team not coming, is completely apart. They say things are better and Services team does not come even then,” Abdullah said.
Indicating a controversy behind the entire episode, Abdullah said, people did not want Kashmir to progress and hence, were doing all this to sabotage its image.
“There are certain agencies who do not want peace here and those agencies must be taught a lesson… I don’t want to mention them. There are agencies who are doing these things, who want us to be backward, who don’ want us to progress, who don’t want tourism to come up so that Kashmiris don’t have begging bowl,” said Abdullah.
Services have given a walkover to J&K in the Plate Division match, saying they have security apprehensions about coming here for the match.
Assistant coach of Services J. P. Pandey said that the team was asked not to proceed for the match in Jammu and Kashmir and were told to prepare for the next game.