Sacked sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe said to the media that he requested an appointment through the Indian High Commission to meet Asian cricket board chairman Jay Sha but it was not materialised.
World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga said Asian cricket board chairman Jay Sha controls the Sri Laka cricket board. Media reported that President Ranil questioned former Sports Minister Roshan whether he met the Indian high commissioner in the opposition leader’s office to discuss Sri Lankan cricket.
Normally when talking about India and Sri Lanka’s relationship it always takes a central stage in the ethnic problem but by this, it is clear the topic now has shifted to cricket. This cricket topic became more controversial by the statement made by Ranil.
This statement added more fire when President Ranil defended Jay Shah and said that it was wrong to accuse Jay Shah by Arjuna Ranatunga and former minister Roshan Ranasinghe. He said that he spoke to Jay Shah and expressed his regret. The current Sports Minister Harin Fernando said that by dragging Jay Shah into the cricket issue, a regional political crisis has been created. The Chairman of the Cricket Board also told the same story. Through the cricket crisis, Ranil and the current sports minister Harin also tried to show that they are pro-Indian, while the opposition and the former sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe are anti-Indian. Harin Fernando said that Jay Shah is the son of Amit Shah, the most trusted minister of Indian Prime Minister Modi. By saying this, he tried to show that the opposition was attacking Modi’s government.
It is sad that cricket, which was a game that brought Sri Lanka and India together, is being used by the government and the opposition for their political gains.
It was cricket that paved the way for the 1987 Indo-Lanka Pact. Goodwill between Sri Lanka and India was lost after India airdropped food to the north. This was rebuilt by Gamini Dissanayake, a close minister of J.R. and N.K.P. Salve a close friend of Rajiv. Gamini was the chairman of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board at that time. N.K.P. Salve was the President of the Indian Cricket Board. These two helped draft the Indo-Lanka Pact, acting as mediators between JR and Rajiv Gandhi. The editor of the Hindu paper Ram also intervened in this. Gamini Dissanayake and N. Ram were befriended by Chandra Shafter, father of the recently murdered Dinesh Shafter.
Cricket played the biggest role behind the Indo-Sri Lanka Pact. What is happening today is using cricket to disturb Indo-Sri Lanka relations. Ranil planted news in the media after removing Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe. It says that before Roshan was removed, Ranil questioned that he had met the Indian High Commissioner with the opposition leader and talked about cricket. It is clear that this is adding more straw to the cricket fire between India and Sri Lanka, not extinguishing it.
