After a communal flare-up in Khargone on the occasion of Ram Navami, a cricket tournament just 90 km from the spot, in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh, is now mired in controversy, with that Muslim players have deliberately been kept out.
The tournament, Vidhayak (MLA’s) Cup, has been organized by local Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Devendra Verma. Verma has denied all of social bias. Dinesh Paliwal, organizer of the tournament, however, said as it is his event, he “can decide who will be allowed”.
Muslim players on Monday approached the police and district collector, with the complaint that they are being denied participation and the administration should cancel the event.
According to the organisers, the 32 teams that approached them first were given the chance to participate.
Sohail Tanweer, a lawyer and a cricket player, who was among the complainants, told News18: “The event is being organized in the name of a public representative, but it has set a new tradition. Muslim players and Muslim teams will be given no entry. This will create a rift among players in general and we demand this tournament be canceled.”
Paliwal, who is also a former BJP city chief, responded, “If I have a wedding at home, I will get to decide who is on the guest list and will get the invites. As an organiser, I will take a call on who should play and who shouldn’t. It’s our viewpoint to allow teams or organize Hanuman Chalisa to make the event a success.”
“The ones are baseless. The tournament takes place every year and we had included traditional teams on invitation basis. Earlier, around 150 teams used to take part in the event, but this year the tournament has been organized with a 32 team-format,” said Verma.
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