Monkey Business

Harbhajan Singh, more endearingly known to us as “Bhajji,” has been banned for three matches for his use of “a racial slur,” the International Cricket Council or the ICC has confirmed. The Australians claim that Harbhajan called Andrew Symonds a “monkey”, that, evidently being a pointed remark at the fact that Symonds is ethnically an Aboriginal. While Harbhajan has denied these accusations and Tendulkar has said that Harbhajan has not been racist in his comments, Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke (both Aussies and therefore far from being neutral) have claimed that Harbhajan was in fact, racist in his comments.

There is no video footage of the heated exchange of abuses (whether at all they were exchanges, we cannot tell).Nor has there been any concrete evidence that points towards the fact that Harbhajan is guilty. This has been a clear-cut case of the Aussies’ word against the Indians. The ICC has decided to slap a three match ban on Harbhajan.

In the meantime, the Indian Team has decided to stay on in Australia. The Umpire, Steve Bucknor has been removed by the ICC. My belief is that the Indian Team should have come back after such humiliating treatment has been meted out to them. Steve Bucknor has been removed by the ICC in the interest of the game, and not   because of the Indians request. Also, Harbhajan’s ban hasn’t been removed. He can play only till a verdict is given.

This is unchartered territory, but I believe that this too should be mentioned here. Let’s for once assume that Harbhajan has called Symonds a “monkey”. Roughly translated, monkey would be “Bandar” in Hindi. If that is indeed the case, then monkey is hardly a “racial slur”. This is my viewpoint alone and I don’t expect Cricketing authorities to view it from a cultural perspective at all, but this is one observation that I couldn’t do away with.

This happens to all the players from the subcontinent-be it an Indian, A Pakistani or a Sri Lankan. A stalwart like Sachin Tendulkar is not believed, but the Aussies are believed. This, in the truest sense of the word, is real racism.

This is really a sad day for International Cricket. If indeed there is a Neutral Governing Body, then such things cannot be happening. I suggest they check the dictionary for the meaning of the word “neutral”. They obviously don’t know what it means yet.

Reeti Roy