Govt can’t withdraw HI recognition says Batra

By Tushar Bhaduri in New Delhi

WITH the sports ministry raising serious doubts about the functioning of Hockey India and talking about withdrawing its conditional recognition, the national body hit back on Saturday claiming that the government had no right to take such a step.

The ministry is peeved about the spate of controversies dogging the national game in recent times and considering putting an interim body of “ unquestionable legitimacy” in place till the elections but Hockey India says roadblocks have been deliberately put in its path.

“ The sports ministry has no powers to constitute an interim body. They cannot interfere in the functioning of a federation,” Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra told M AIL T ODAY . “ It’s only the Indian Olympic Association who has that right.” Batra, who has been at loggerheads with the sports ministry in recent times, said he won’t “ succumb to such pressure tactics.” “ The ministry is hand in glove with the JB Roy group but we will fight it out.

They want to push in their own people in the elected body and are threatening us at every opportunity,” Batra alleged.

“ It is the typical bureaucratic mentality to keep all control in their own hands to show who is boss.

“ The several court cases in different parts of the country are all their handiwork.

JB Roy has a loose pocket and is funding these activities,” he said, blaming his predecessor Mohammad Aslam Khan of engineering many of the cases filed against the election process in different states.

“ He ( Aslam) himself wanted to get nomination. When he failed in that bid, he decided to portray himself as a martyr by resigning on the pretext of not being able to conduct elections within the requisite time- frame.” The elections have been postponed on three occasions after the affiliation process was called into question by various bodies.

The ministry has alluded to a “ credibility gap” in Hockey India, terming it an “ edifice that is showing too many cracks”, but the secretary general said there were observers appointed by the government as well as the International Hockey Federation ( FIH) overseeing the whole process.

“ Zafar Iqbal, Ajit Pal Singh and government’s election observer SK Mendiratta are aware of all the steps taken by us.

What more transparency do they want?” Batra, in a recent outburst, had charged the sports ministry of acting like a part of the Punjab government. The comment prompted an angry response on the lines that Hockey India depended on the government for infrastructure, training facilities and funding for tours.

“ This is not the sports ministry’s personal fund. It’s their duty to spend it for the development of sports. If they don’t, I will drag them to court,” Batra said.