Time for India to rise and be heard

Malcolm Speed's plane-ride to Harare couldn't have come sooner. Exactly what will emerge from the 24-hour deadline set by the ICC is not yet clear, but by finally getting engaged in the Zimbabwe crisis, cricket's governing body can hope to reclaim some of the ground it had lost by its disturbing silence on the issue. It is already a couple of weeks late - two Tests stand defiled as it is - but if further degradation can be avoided, Speed will have earned his air miles.

But closer to home in India, silence still reigns, and it is disquieting. Jagmohan Dalmiya, whose views on cricket's power hierarchy are rarely covert, has chosen to keep a safe distance from a crisis that has colour of the skin at its centre. It isn't South Africa of Apartheid yet, but the shades are unmistakable. India was a leading light in the movement against Apartheid, and to look the other way now is to risk being accused of double standards. Issues don't change merely because the colour of the oppressed is white.

The enormity of Zimbabwe's troubles have taken time to sink in in India because Robert Mugabe has, for long, been seen as a third-world hero fighting to right the wrongs of colonial oppressors. Land reform is a familiar theme in India, where a clutch of princes loyal to the British, and thousands of landlords, had to be divested of their property after independence to ensure social equity. In principle, it wouldn't appear as unjust if the minority whites who held the majority of land in Zimbabwe were made to give away most of their property. But it took more than a while to register that the horrible wrongs of the past were being righted in an even worse manner.

But still, a sports body can be excused for not putting political and social concerns on its agenda. After all, Dalmiya had campaigned relentlessly for the restoration of cricket ties with Pakistan when government opinion and public sentiments were running against it. On the issue of England's prevarication on touring Zimbabwe, Dalmiya gleefully took the stand that the failure to honour a commitment should cost the ECB nothing less than a suspension. It couldn't have been easy for him to have forgiven Ian MacLaurin, then the chairman of the ECB, for suggesting that India be thrown out for not touring Pakistan. The ECB's position was further indefensible because it had shown not a trace of uneasiness while hosting Zimbabwe last summer. It was difficult to understand then why morality, a minefield at the best of times, should be convenient.

The circumstances have changed since. The cricket community can no longer hide behind the line that sport needs to keep out of politics. The very integrity of the game is at stake. Cricket stands to be destroyed in Zimbabwe by racist policies of a cricket board. Test cricket is being reduced to a mockery. Sports journalists have been thrown out on flimsy grounds.

Indians appreciate the value of social justice and affirmative action. The situation in Zimbabwe is now different. The policies of the ZCU are an affront to decency and social order. The cricket world cannot afford to stay silent. Ambition isn't a vice, but it shouldn't blind anyone to flagrant injustice. India aspires to global leadership in cricket, and in many ways, it is already a global leader. But the powerful cannot expect to exist in a vacuum; with power comes wider responsibilities. It is time for India to rise above the politics of power and let the world hear the voice of its conscience.

Sambit Bal is the editor of Wisden Cricinfo in India and of Wisden Asia Cricket magazine.