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Freddie wrong on Harbhajan-Symonds racial issue
DEAR EDITOR,
Reference is made to a comment by Mr. Freddie Kissoon (KN Apr 2, 2011) tying Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh (affectionately called Bhajji) to “a racist remark against Andrew Symonds, a mixed race player from Australia” in a Test match in Sydney in 2008.There is no place for racism and as such I applaud Kissoon for his position. However, Kissoon is not factual on the Harbhajan-Symonds incident.
The International Cricket Council cleared Harbhajan of an allegation of a racial remark. Sachin Tendulkar, known for his honesty and cricket statesmanship, was at the wicket with Harbhajan when the incident allegedly took place and testified that Harbhajan did not make a racial remark.
I travel to India frequently and spoke with Indian reporters about the incident. I was also in Trinidad earlier this month for the 20/20 and spoke with Indian nationals in the know about the incident during the second Test. What I was informed was Harbhajan used a half profanity (in Hindi) or sledging which is normal in cricket.
The Australians are adept at sledging (swearing) at their opponents and that series had a lot of confrontations between the sides. And Harbhajan responded in kind but not with a racist comment as I was informed. (On sledging, recall the incident involving Ramnaresh Sarwan and Glen McGrath in which the confronted each other over remarks made by McGrath). If I remember correctly, Harbhajan, who is not known for his batting skills, scored a lot of runs and took a lot of wickets in the series frustrating the Australians. The Hindi phrase Harbhajan used against Symonds is commonly used by Indians throughout Guyana, Trinidad, Suriname, Fiji, etc. – “theray m_ _ _” which from Harbhajan’s accent could come across as “monkey” because of closeness of pronunciation and so concluded by Symonds.
The Hindi phrase, which Indians commonly use in friendly arguments, makes reference to someone’s mother. If a native Hindi (or Punjabi) speaker wishes to call someone a monkey, he or she would use a completely different word “bhan_ _ _”.
It should be noted that today, Harbhajan and Symonds are friends playing for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL and both made positive comments about each other saying there was no pending issue about the confrontation they had in the Sydney test. They blame the media for hyping the incident.
Tendulkar was responsible for bringing Symonds to Mumbai and for the new friendship between the two players. According to them, there was no racial issue.
It should also be pointed out that Harbhajan was a guest at the home of Brian Lara earlier this month in Trinidad. Harbhajan is fond of the cricketer. And I am told that whenever Lara is in Mumbai, Tendulkar hosts him. So race or racism is not an issue involving Harbhajan and Tendulkar or Indian cricketers and there could not have been any regarding Symonds.
Vishnu Bisram
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