Don’t split the Nationals symbol, the winners Cup

One notable fallout of the ongoing, and never-ending, feud between surrogate Hockey India and outlived Indian Hockey Federation has been the fast eroding ethics of Nationals.

Both factions all of a sudden show a passion for the National Championship. The IHF was in the seat of power for about 15 years, but hardly conducted the Championship a couple of times. Not to be undone, the people who came to the power unseating them followed with the same casual and callous attitude. Hockey India has managed to conduct its first Nationals, now going on in Bhopal, despite being in power for three years.

Both of them have money for court, hosting press conferences in high-cost hotels, but always had no will or purse to conduct the basic, and the most important of domestic activities, the Nationals.

Not only that each faction try to undercut and sabotage each other’s efforts, this was most conspicuous with respect to host or unhost the Nationals.

Last year the same MP government came forward to host the Nationals under the umbrella of IHF, which was just then restored by a court. Hockey India stopped all institutions, without whose teams no event can be successful, and thus robbed of the event’s true worthiness.

Not to be undone, affiliates close to the IHF did not send their teams to ongoing Bhopal now. Bombay, Punjab and Tamil Nadu teams suffered to large extent, as they take sides with the IHF.

Neither faction had the sporting spirit in their mind, lest they could have easily spared the players from their clout in the collective interest of the game. Both tried to control them, and are successful in their ‘captured’ territories, and deprive players of their right to play in the Nationals.

Due to this callous attitude now we have a peculiar situation. The unofficial Nationals (last year Bhopal) had the honour presenting the true symbol of supremacy the Rangasamy Cup.

The ‘official’ Nationals will not have this honour now. They will make their own Cup and present it on June 19th.

This is unacceptable.

National championship has its glorious history. Just because some new organization has come up — with surrogate parents (FIH and IOA) — you can never say a new Nationals is played for the first time. This is what transpires today. Hockey India says it is conducting its First Nationals and thus indirectly seeks to hide the fact that they don’t have the Rangasamy Cup in their possession. It might suit their case and justify their stand, but it is not acceptable, unethical too.

Around the same time last year, MP Govt, the organizers of the Nationals, had the Cup in their custody. The Rangasamy Cup was with the holders Punjab and Sind Bank. This bank could not play the Nationals then as Hockey India managed to stop all the institutions with astute manipulation. The Bank’s sports officials are sympathizers of KPS Gill’s faction, even one Charanjit Singh Raheja, the bank’s officer was, we were told, the adhoc Secretary General of this faction.

Though the bank’s team did not take part in the Nationals, they too showed their manipulative skills and sent the Cup to Bhopal. How a public sector bank, can indulge in such dubious double act was never questioned. The team is not going for the Nationals, but it send the Cup to the orgnizers!!

The Rangasamy Cup, presented by the Hindu newspaper in 1951, looked like Indian hockey itself, with full of rust, almost unworthy of look at it due to its unpolished and unkeptness, with no majestic look attached to it. The MP government has rightly deputed a person who brought the cup back to Delhi and used the high-end professional services to galvanize it. See the picture for the re-polished Cup. The point one should not miss here is, even de-rusting, polishing a Cup has to be
done by government, neither HI or IHF will hardly bother. The MP Government’s concern then was how such a dirty looking Cup can be presented by its Chief Minister.

Even this basic minimum job was to be done by a third party, while HI and IHF claim guardianship of national hockey!!!

Now the pain for hockey fans is, an ‘unofficial’ Cup will be presented to the ‘Official’ Nationals’ winners.

We have almost made mockery of the history of the Nationals, like we did to the sport itself. Remember the Nationals was not stopped even during the World War II.

We suggest one advice in order to keep the history in tact. Hockey India did not host last year nationals. IHF did it. IHF did not host this year’s nationals, Hockey India takes this credit.

Practically, 2010 and 2011 Nationals were organized by MP Government, which is a public expenditure anyway.

Therefore, declare both Bhopal Nationals official and present the Rangasamy Cup, now in the custody of the IHF-sympathizer Mumbai Hockey Association, on June 19th.

In any case both factions are set to merge, if the efforts of the government are to succeed. Then why short-circuit history, now? Let the Nationals have their continuity.

No chronicler or history can tell the next generation, this is IHF Nationals, another is Hockey India Nationals.

Because, there can never be two National Championships for one sport.