Cong bowls bouncer to Anurag

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 28

The clamour against the T20 cricket match between India and Pakistan at Dharamshala on March 19 is only getting louder with Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) today announcing its decision to hold statewide protests and prevent the match at all costs.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the state executive of the HPCC held here today under the chairmanship of HPCC chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu. “We are not opposed to the other nine matches but we will not allow the Indo-Pak match to take place as it will be nothing short of an insult to the families of the martyrs,” Sukhu said emphatically.

With the decision of the HPCC to oppose the match, the possibility of the Congress workers creating a problem cannot be ruled out. Transport Minister GS Bali and former BJP MLA from Nurpur Rakesh Pathania have already given similar indications.

Veteran BJP leader and Kangra MP Shanta Kumar has already written to the Prime Minister to intervene and call off the match to avert a major law and order problem. It is not just Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh but the entire Congress Legislature party has opposed the match. Virbhadra has said the HPCA can hold the match at its own risk. He also demanded half of the proceeds from the other nine matches must be given to the families of the martyrs. “In case the HPCA still does not call off the match, the Congress protest will only intensify and the match will not be allowed at any cost,” he said.

He also asked HPCA president and BJP MP Anurag Thakur to clarify his stand on holding the match at Dharamshala as he had earlier conducted a march from Kolkata to Lal Chowk in Kashmir to hoist the national flag. “I want to ask him why he is in favour of holding the match despite the opposition from martyr’s families and general public of the state,” he said. Others present at the meeting included Chief Parliamentary Secretary Rohit Thakur, Ram Lal Thakur, Kuldeep Pathania, Harshwardhan Chauhan, Harbhajan Singh Bhajji, Ajay Mahajan, Ravi Thakur, Chander Kumar, Vinod Sultanpuri, Geeta Negi and Biru Ram.