Andrew Symonds and Racism
Racism in any form is condemnable. In the recently concluded ODI cricket match in India between India and Australia ,some section of the crowd shouted monkey chanting against Andrew Symonds. He was very much upset due to this. This is very bad and to be prevented in future. There is no doubt about that. But the loud noise created by Australians and the Australian media regarding this incident is out of proportionate. The over enthusiastic crowd over stepped their border and this is to be condemned. But that won't mean that every cricket fan in India is racist. Many of them really fans of Ricky Ponting, Hayden, Ghilchrist and Symonds also. Many countries have played their matches in India. But no such event ever happened in India. This incident resembles one such incident in which Pakistan Cricket Player Inzaman Ul Haq involved. He was booed by some of the English fans and they shouted "Potato" to ridicule him. He got wild and even tried to beat them. But he never raised racism regarding this incident. The Australian players who are very much upset over this incident in India , should not forget their notorious on ground sledging. They even justified it as their game plan. Even after this incident in India , Andrew Symonds in an interview to the press ,justified on ground sledging as a game plan. It is often said that they used to utter "bloody Indians' "black bastards" and so on. All these are not racist outbursts? If the Australian players can not be controlled, how the crowd be? Even now Andrew Symonds and Ricky Ponting request the Australian fans not to repeat what the Indians do to them , when the Indian team come for matches in Australia. It seems to be a veiled instigation against Indian players. The BCCI should think twice before sending their team to Australia because their safety is at threat. It is really pity that a country which followed racist policy until few years back, accuses a country whose Father of the Nation was kicked out of a train by a racist white man!
