Stumped out over possession of the scenic Dharamshala cricket stadium and run out at the Pavillion hotel, it needs to be credited that none other than a young and aspiring sports administrator Anurag Thakur conceived and executed the project, much to the dismay of his opponents both political and personal.
Surely a rule must have been bent here, a nod from the powerful political patron his father Prem Kumar Dhumal, then the chief minister, may have facilitated construction of a cricket ground in the Dhauladhars and today for want of more pressing issues, the pitching ground and the luxury hotel are in the thick of controversy.
Must say there could be many more such grounds across the vast Himalayan landscape of Himachal but surely no political leader or state sports administrator has even attempted to exploit such venues.
Hounding Anurag Thakur and gang for control of Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, for neutralizing the political mileage the ground did give them or whatever the grudges may be, it needs to be conceded that the ground is indeed a world class cricket infrastructure, testified by many international players.
Turning it into a de facto private ownership is what has everybody and anybody in politics messing around with sports eyeing control of the power cricketing body. Names of many scions of political families are doing the rounds as a possible replacement to Anurag Thakur, who could head the HPCA.
HPCA functioning as a state within a state may have been audacious that has attracted the states fury, but lest we bury it all in a scandal, it needs to be acknowledged that a small piece of land, high up in scenic mountains, has brought much value to Himachal Pradesh and in a short span become iconic of the state.
Surely others could do better by creating better infrastructure and it need not be sports infrastructure.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
The article brings out two important points very clearly (if I understood well)
1) Anurag Thakur may be at fault at many places (still to be proved though) but he deserves a pat on his back for doing which no one else could accomplish before him despite having adequate chances.
2) “””Names of many scions of political families are doing the rounds as a possible replacement to Anurag Thakur, who could head the HPCA””” this is what is most important…. if the whole drama is for any of the political scion from the state to replace him then the whole exercise will turn futile…. right points raised, must say
Ashish,
Its a bad situation either way we think or perceive.
1. There was no need for Dhumal Govt. to bend laws, instead they should have built a proper mechanism for the allotment of land for a stadium. The reality is that at that time they were not sure if it would even work.
2. After BJP govt. came in power they also did same and took control from Congress functionaries of sports (Ram Lal Thakur, whose son and team took over Bilaspur stadium, in fact was humiliated pretty badly).
3. Past is past and based on changing world, (Congress govt is not realising the power of social media and also change in youth) present government should have booked the HPCA and fought the case in the court. Best they should have also blocked them from organising anything there and took the control (under the law, if HPCA was at fault) and built a committee to run day to day affairs of the cricket and stadiums etc. This way the sports would have not got hurt, revenue which these stadiums bring to local areas would have not been disturbed.
4. Anurag was also wrong in taking a huge crowd to vigilance office and showing his strength. He has to accept that his party has lost elections and next time show of strength would be after 5 years or during his re-election. Congress is playing their best by humiliating him and it can hurt Anurag’s relection chances.
4. By taking the control and locking the stadiums, Congress govt. has sent a message that HP is police state. The law of land is controlled and manipulated by politicians and that’s a dangerous message and can destroy many things in coming years.
So overall, no clear thinking went in fixing this problem. Everyone thought about their personal gains (Anurag can not claim stadiums as his own property).
Overall our state needs every source of promotion, revenue generation and all the positive news, but this has hurt all those prospects.
So Himachal once again lost the battle of development, thanks to narrow mindedness of few politicians.
whatever, efforts should be appraised, Anuraag did superb job by giving such schenic cricket venue to Country