Indian Cricket eclipses a 9 year old life ……..

When I set up this thread , “The safety ..Jinxed” , I genuinely felt that there may not be many stories that it could generate . However , what you are about to read would probably convince you otherwise …………
Friday, March 31, 2006 (Faridabad)


This was the day , when India played England on the Faridabad turf . The match turned out great , India won to clinch a 2-0 lead in the one day international series , but that’s what happened under the T.V camera focus . However , there also was another scene in the glorious tale , a Lathi-charge by our very own Polizei , that probably almost snuffed an innocent 9 year old life . The extract to follow is what I got from the NDTV web portal –

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Haryana police lathicharged a crowd outside the Nahar Singh Stadium in Faridabad where India played their second ODI against England on Friday. India's four-wicket win over England is being overshadowed by critical injuries to a nine-year-old girl Vidhi. The young girl and her mother were seriously hurt when they tried to escape a Haryana police lathicharge. The police say they had no choice after gatecrashers tried to force their way into the match against England. The irony is that Vidhi and her mother had valid tickets. Now Vidhi is in the intensive care unit of a Faridabad hospital. Her mother is in the same hospital with a broken collarbone. "We were standing near the gates. The police refused to open the gates or even let the two ladies through," said an eyewitness. "We had tickets, we were not being allowed in, people without tickets got in somehow. The police were letting their own relatives in, but not valid ticket holders," said another. Police face criticism After the Gurgaon violence and the brutal beating of Honda workers, the Haryana police's image has already taken a beating. Once again, the Chief Minister defended the use of force, claiming most people trying to get in didn't have valid tickets. "At gate number 8, there were some 6,000-7,000 people who were trying to gatecrash. But in that crowd, one lady and her child got trapped. "To save them and push the crowd back, the police had to resort to a mild lathicharge," said Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister, Haryana. Just before the game began, both teams observed a minute's silence before the game began in memory of former Haryana chief minister Bansi Lal. Little did they know that they should also be praying for the well being of a little girl who lies critically injured in hospital.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I agree , that the police force cannot be held accountable to what happened , However it does raise an eyebrow on the basic mindset of the people of our country . On one hand , we have people shouting that India fails to progress OR India would never make it on the globabl map , but if you delve deeper into the realities , we can clearly see that we are the creator’s of our own miseries . It sounds so plain and clear – If you have a ticket for the match , you very well step in to the stadium and enjoy it . However if you don’t , there’s no question as to why you should even try to get near the arena ! Probably , if this could be understood so easily , what happened could’ve been totally prevented . People would argue , or simply ward off saying that it was just one LIFE that is at stake , but that very life probably is the apple of her parent’s eyes . What I want to putforth here , is that its because of our own selve’s that our Safety is Jinxed . If we consciously try to improve individually , inculcate a basic sense of discipline , Not only that such incidents would be a history , but also India would progress faster . And yes , we would also be able to enjoy quality CRICKET !  Jai Hind !