HI hits back, says election won’t affect World Cup

M.S. Unnikrishnan

Tribune News Service

Hockey India secretary-general Narinder Batra said here today that the World Cup Hockey Championship will be held as schedueld at the National Stadium in Delhi from February 28 to March 13, as it will have no bearing on the elections to Hockey India (HI).

He said the “outbursts” of Hockey Punjab secretary-general Pargat Singh “were not only unwarranted, but absolutely out of context” and could only vitiate matters. Batra also accused the Sports Ministry of putting “pressure” in giving affiliation to Hockey Punjab.

He said the World Cup would be conducted by a society, which is already in existence, and not by Hockey India. The World Cup Society Governing Body consists of members from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the International Hockey Federation (FIH), including IOA president Suresh Kalmadi and FIH president Leandro Negre, both joint-chairmen, IOA secretary-general Randhir Singh, Batra himself, IOA vice-president Lalit Bhanot and Hockey India adviser Anupam Gulati.

Batra, who was the treasurer of HI, said he was appointed the secretary-general and Vidya Stokes the president by the HI board following the resignation of HI president A.K.Mattoo. (The HI board consists of Mattoo, Aslam Khan, Batra, Vidya Stokes, Harish Sharma, Rajeev Mehta and Mohd. Mustaq Ahmed).

Batra said Hockey India had no hidden agenda to postone the HI elections, as it was necessitated following the Rajasthan High Court’s directions.

“Unfortunately, Pargat Singh sees a design in that. Under no circumstances, the office-bearers of HI were interested in continuing in the posts they are currently holding”, stated Batra. The HI secretary-general also refuted Pargat Singh’s charge that Hockey Punjab was given affiliation to HI after he was made to run around for 10 days.

“Hockey Punjab’s affiliation was given within 24 hours after due process with immense pressure coming from the Sports Ministry, despite there being disputes in the State unit. In fact, in no other case has the Ministry been so keen. This goes on to show a systematic calumny against Hockey India and its office-bearers”, Batra stated.

He said the Ministry of Sports acted more like the “Ministry of Sports, Governmnet of Punjab than the Ministry of Sports, Government of India”. He said Punjab’s application for affilication was received by HI on November 30 after elections to HI were announced.

Batra said he wanted to put it on “record” that it was Pargat Singh’s “ambition” to become the secretary-general that had forced him to make wild allegations against Kalmadi and HI officials. Batra said there were complaints from the women’s hockey association of Punjab that it was not involved in the affiliation process and that proper meetings for the merger of the different hockey bodies in Punjab were not held as they were all “forced meetings”.

He said the sole aim of HI since its inception under the direction of the FIH was to bring all State unites (men and women) together under one umbrella called Hockey India and conduct elections to the apex body as early as possiblle.

“Hence proper notices were sent to all legally approved affiliates in the States and the date announced (February, 7, 2010) for elections until the Rajasthan High Court stay”, Batra elaborated.

Batra said it was Pargat Singh’s “figment of imagination” that Kalmadi wanted to become the HI president. “I have nothing more to add after Kalmadi himself has refuted Singh’s charges yesterday, except that Hockey Maharashtra was affiliated in August 2009 and from day one, Kalmadi was not a party to HM’s poll processs. If at all there is a role for Kalmadi in HI’s elections, he is doing so as president of the national Olympic body (IOA) whose responsibility it is to be a watchdog and conduct smooth elections to Hockey India”, Batra explained.

(HI recognised nine State units in August, viz Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttrakhand, Assam, Bihar, Mizoram and Kerala while Arunachal Prdesh, Chandigarh, Manipur, Orissa, Nagaland, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar, Haryana, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh, and four institutional units, Services Railways, Universities and Air India, were recognised on October 22).

Batra said Paragat’s desire to get into HI had forced him to join hands with J.B.Roy of West Bengal, but “now finding that Roy will not be able to get him enough support, Pargat Singh is trying to play a different tune and game. In his game of evil designs, he has chosen to accuse each and every one in Hockey India”.

Batra said the HI had called for elections on November 18 after due notices were given in October, “but a systematic tirade by J.B.Roy and party against Hockey India made both the Sports Ministry and the FIH write to us to re-look at all affiliations before announcing the next date for the elections”. He said subsequently, a four-member panel, consisting of Pargat , Amrit Bose, Gurbax Singh and Raj Kumar Jaipal (who obtained the stay order on the HI elections from the Rajasthan High Court), attended the meetings and were part of the process of sorting the affiliations.

“They were also signatory to the affiliation process (to 34 units)”, he added. (Batra supported his argument with a clutch of documents).