With The Appointment Of The BJP Leaders, BCCI Dashed Hopes Of Cricket In J&K

There were high hopes with the Board of Control for Cricket in India following the judgment of the High Court in March that asked the BCCI to finalise the amendment in the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association in conformity with the recommendations made by the Lodha Committee, and to consult all stakeholders including the parties, the representatives of the erstwhile clubs of the JKCA and district cricket associations.

However, after the BCCI on Tuesday constituted three members committee- two BJP leaders and one former cricketer- to look after the affairs of JKCA, all hopes are dashed.

In spite of Lodha Committee reforms, the BCCI appointed BJP spokesmen Brigadier Anil Gupta Sunil Sethi as administer and member respectively. The third member of the committee is former cricketer Mithun Manhas.

In March, the division bench of the J&K High Court had put an end to the functioning of the Court-Appointed Administrator retd IPS officer Syed Ashiq Hussain Bukhari and directed the BCCI to constitute a fresh committee for the affairs. The High Court had said that there is no further need for Bukhari’s continuation and discontinued his appointment as the CEO. The Court had directed the BCCI to run the management of the JKCA as an interim measure till a new body of the JKCA is elected under its supervision.  The court had asked the BBCI to finalize the amendment in the constitution of JKCA in conformity with the recommendations made by the Lodha Committee as approved by the Supreme Court.

The cricketers say the BCCI could have appointed people having great cricketing credentials. “It is not an issue of Jammu versus Kashmir. It is an issue of cricket and developing cricket in Jammu and Kashmir. The BCCI had a huge choice in J&K but they preferred to have BJP leaders having no expertise or idea of cricket,” say cricketers who don’t want to be named. They said even the BCCI’s choice of Manhas is flawed as he has played more for Delhi than for Jammu and Kashmir. “There are better players in Jammu but it is sad in spite of having huge talent available in Jammu, the BCCI didn't go for it,” they added.

After the controversy over JKCA cricket scam, the Court had in 2017 appointed Justice C. K. Prasad, former judge of the Supreme Court, and Justice Syed Rafat Alam, former Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh and Allahabad High Court, as Court Appointed Administrators (CAA) of the JKCA.  The Court has appointed Ashiq Hussain Bukhari as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to assist the CAA in managing the affairs of the JKCA. Both Justice Prasad and Justice Alam brought structural reforms within the JKCA which had remained marred in controversies in the previous years.

According to the cricketers, the cricket in Jammu and Kashmir was confined to the clubs. “There were 16 cricket clubs in Jammu and 16 cricket clubs in Kashmir and it was 32 club executives which had voting rights and the cricket was confined between them in J&K,” says a former cricketer. He says the court-appointed administrators gave district association to Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and at the same time they didn’t disown the clubs. According to the cricketers, the elections were not held as there were litigations before the High Court. They say during the administration of justice Prasad and Justice Alam, the JKCA not only worked for the development of cricket but it improved its performance as well.

“There were litigations by the cricket clubs. Mithun Manhas represents one such club. Sunil Sethi as a lawyer was pleading the cases of the clubs. Naturally, there is a conflict of interest in this selection. We were expecting an appointment of people having experience of cricket administration and cricketing experience in the JKCA. It is sad to see the BCCI losing this golden opportunity,” says an ace cricketer.

The BJP in a statement here has defended BJP spokesmen taking over the JKCA. The BJP said an attempt is being raised about the non-inclusion of Kashmiris in the newly appointed governing body of the JKCA. “The BCCI has selected a merit-based team and it is unnecessarily alleged being politicizing to the furtherance of Prime Minister Modi's alleged agenda of changing the Muslim majority identity of the region.   The BCCI has selected a merit-based team,” the BJP statement said. BJP argues Gupta has administrative experience, Sethi is a legal expert, and represented the BCCI in courts in JKCA matters for the last two years. 

“The issue is deliberately regionalized and made it Jammu versus Kashmir to undermine our argument that the selection should have been as per with Lodha Committee reforms and recommendations” says a cricketer.