I come to praise Jagmohan Dalmiya, not to bury him

Firstly, my heartfelt condolences to the entire Dalmiya family, and his many, many friends – what I am about to write is truly in praise of him, but truthful in that praise – may his soul rest in eternal peace in that great, great stadium in the sky. In all the words that have been written about him since his death, much truth has been written – how he changed the face of Indian, and then, world cricket – how he was a ‘players’ man – how he was easily reachable, and always ready to face a challenge – how he truly loved cricket, and enjoyed playing it as a young man. [caption id=“attachment_2452908” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Former India captain Sourav Ganguly pays tribute to the late Jagmohan Dalmiya in Kolkata on September 30. AFP[/caption] Now I must be truthful. I wrote against Dalmiya right from the beginning of his reign – right from the earliest days – not because I had any personal grudge against him - I never had the pleasure of meeting him – but because he represented – and I am sure he was proud to represent – all that is brave and shrewd and successful about business. This was precisely my argument with him, and about his style of working. Yes, he took cricket out of the colonial clutches of the British – but were our own neo-capitalistic clutches any better? Has cricket prospered beyond the money earned and the glamour gained? We have to think very, very deeply about this – not only in the light of cricket, but in the light of our entire nation – is the cricket we now have in 2015 – for which Dalmiya deserves full credit – really the cricket we wished for, or wish for? And is India of 2015 really the India we wished for, or wish for? I do not want to take sides – but we must look very deeply within ourselves, and find an answer — soon. The worst match-fixing scandal in the history of cricket took place on Dalmiya’s watch, and his first reaction was that it was not true. It was only Cronje’s bravery, or his sense of guilt, which opened the Pandora’s box. Even then, Dalmiya kept his cool, and did not react with the concern and care that she should have. His own beloved BCCI plotted and planned against him, and threw him out. Now, this happens with all successful people in our beloved country, but the people who threw him out then proceeded to produce the IPL, which let, in the most ironic fashion, to Dalmiya being called back for a brief, final innings. Yes, he made money for players and associations and boards – money they had never dreamed of – but where did the money come from, and was all of it truly needed? This is a question not only for today’s cricket, but for today’s world – as we face yet another financial world crisis – as our Prime Minister roams the globe promising miracle after financial miracle – as the very people who started IPL are facing total financial ruin – we have to stop and think? Is the process that Dalmiya set into motion – for which he deserves full credit – what we really wanted or needed? Need and greed are not even cousins, much less brothers. We must remember that. Today, we celebrate Gandhi Jayanti – let us celebrate it with truth and honesty – let us look deep into history and remember who was truly responsible for his death – and his life. Gandhiji disliked cricket – he thought it a waste of energy, and a sport that promoted communalism. That was cricket of the 30’s and 40’s – what would he think about today’s cricket? – or – much more importantly – today’s India? Let us all ask him today – as we celebrate his birth, let us also remember his death. And, of course, the South African series begins today – in the memory of Gandhi and Mandela – two truly great, great men – and we start with a T20 match – even Dalmiya had never dreamt of T20 cricket when he took over in the early 90’s. So we march forward. Or do we?