Leave sports to players!

Amid layers of bitter differences and the underlying risk of nuclear war outbreak, 1.7 billion in South Asia, including Pakistan and India, remain united by cricket, a British colonial-era sport. But as the Cricket World Cup 2011 begins, might extremism soon destroy this sporting bond?

More than a dozen nations are taking part in the World Cup, held in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, with the final of mega scheduled for April 2 at the Wankhede Stadium in the Indian metropolis of Mumbai. It is an opportunity for publicity which India's Hindu nationalist politicians are seeking to exploit.

"You all know (Shev) Sena chief Bal Thackeray's views. If the Pakistan team reaches the final, it will be the Sena chief who ultimately decides whether to allow them to play" a report published in Indian newspaper The Hindu, quotes Manohar Joshi, former Speaker of Parliament's Lower House.

Marred by corruption controversies and betting scandals, Pakistan's team is not without its troubles. Yet the Indian extremist party threatens the impossible; throwing a spanner in a game meant to celebrate cultural and ethnic diversity.

India and Pakistan have never shied away from competing on the sports fields. On February 22, 1987, Pakistani military dictator General Zia-ul-Haq even used a similar cricket match to avert a war. Accompanied by a delegation of 68 government officials, sportsmen and family members, Zia flew to India's Rajasthan state "to see a good game of cricket" in a stadium. He held talks with Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and added the word 'cricket diplomacy' to the diplomatic lexicon.

But the Hindu extremist party, Shiv Sena, also has a history of exploiting Pakistan-India cricket ties for political gain. In 1991, the same outfit claimed responsibility of defacing the cricket ground ahead of a proposed one-day series between the two neighbours.

Such exploitation is regrettable.

In 776 BC, the ancient Greek idea of Olympics centered on celebrating diversity and co-existence where athletes, philosophers, scholars, poets, musicians, sculptors and high-profile leaders displayed their talents.

Though in 1894, French Baron Pierre de Coubertin gave the Greek tradition a modern look, 1992 Barcelona Olympics offer a rare exception with no boycotts. The Soviet Union had split, the Berlin Wall had been torn down and South Africa had seen the end of apartheid after 32 years of sporting isolation.

Authoritarian rulers and extremist groups alike have been forcing vested political and hawkish agendas on sports regardless of public sentiments at large. Today, ties between governments and people of Pakistan and India may be frayed, but a cricket fixture between the two offers the chance for both sides to put aside their grievances. Hindu extremists must not be allowed to turn a contest on the field into reason for those off it to seek war and bloodshed in the name of religion and ethnicity.

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