I read with interest the piece written by Lord Dolar Popat and it reminded me of the terribly infamous ‘Tebbit Test’ that was invoked by yet another peer many years back. It was roundly criticised by everybody. This article deserves the same treatment.
There is a common mistake made of mixing ethnicity with nationality. The two are quite different. You might be a white UK individual who has migrated to Australia or New Zealand and have acquired their citizenship. If you supported a visiting England team rather than your adopted country, it would be seen as natural and normal, not immoral or unpatriotic. It is only a game, not war.
I think we should look at it in the same way as far as Indians in the UK and their support for the Indian cricket team is concerned.
Let us also remember that not only the Indian but Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, Afghani as well as many West Indian cricket lovers also supported their ‘native’ countries. Were they all also unpatriotic? Of course not!
It is wrong to ‘blackmail’ these people by saying ‘Look at all the opportunities we gave you and your children’. It is a two-way process.
The UK has also benefited enormously by the huge contribution made by BAME communities to economic, cultural, spiritual, social, intellectual and moral development and continue to do so. They have all come up through their own hard work and sacrifices, not by relying on any state handouts or kindness. They are all patriotic and proud UK citizens who do not deserve to be questioned over their loyalty to the country by anyone.
Perhaps, a more valid question that the English lady from Shadwell needs to ask is ‘Where were the English cricket fans?’ Why in a country of 65 million people can we not find enough English people to fill the grounds on their own?
Why is Cricket almost never on screens in English pubs or restaurants? Why is Cricket absent from free-to-air television? If all that is linked to the sharply declining interest in Cricket in England, why blame the Indian cricket fans?
Jayant Tanna
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