Mob justice

The incident in Anuradhapura where an angry crowd had set fire to a bus after it knocked down a three wheeler and killed its driver marks a dangerous instance of the public taking the law into their hands.

This is not the first time that mob justice ruled. Similar incidents were witnessed even in the Colombo suburbs where an enraged public took upon itself to set fire to buses after fatal accidents.

The IGP should inform his charges to act quickly to bring to book all such miscreants who go berserk after such incidents. There have been instances where the drivers of the buses/vehicles concerned had been set upon and brutally assaulted. In this instances as in so many other such cases the driver and the conductor had fled the scene.

The danger lies in the trend catching up where the public assumes the role of judge, jury and executioner. True, the public may tend to be justifiably provoked by the senseless death of a pedestrian especially if it is a child, as has often been case that provoked such violence.

The public ire in such instances or in the case of other crime too may well be because the knowledge that offenders get off scot free or are let off lightly by the courts of law which may fuel their desire for vengeance in a more tangible form.

It is also widely acknowledged that our penal system lacks sufficient teeth to effectively deal with offenses such as negligent driving and other grave offenses which have led to public frustration.

It is therefore incumbent on the authorities to introduce legal reforms that would ensure stiffer penalties to lawbreakers which in turn would instill confidence in the public that real justice would be meted out to all offenders.

Auctioning cricket

If there were any vestiges left of the hallowed traditions and values associated with the game of cricket after its rapid commercialisation in recent times, even these are now being swept away by the deluge of mega bucks saturating the sport, once hailed as a gentleman's game, reducing it to a mere commodity in the market place.

The auction of the world's top players by the "Indian Premier League" under the sponsorship of India's financial conglomerates and Bollywood big names, to display their wares in a 20-20 slog fest to light up India's domestic tournament has all but spelled the death knell to a game steeped in a rich culture and heritage.

It would also be a negation of all that are held hallowed and sacrosanct of the game dating back to Dickensian times.

That fact that the players have won biddings from as high as 1.5 million US dollars while a 19 year old Indian Test player has been bought over for as much as 0.9 million dollars is but a reflection of the extent to which this gentleman's game had been auctioned on the alter of mammon.

A greater contrast could not have been imagined when the Gentlemen and Players donned flannels and took a leisurely stroll onto the village green to entertain groups of tea drinking men and women in their Sunday best in those spacious days when the game was played for fun and relaxation.

Which school master and elder would now admonish his charges to play a "Straight Bat" or to play the game "in the true Spirit" phrases associated with the hallowed traditions of the game of cricket and a watchword in discipline and dignified conduct.

What is unbelievable is the sanction accorded to this abomination by the ICC, the so called guardians of the sport, whose duty it is to ensure the game is free of pollution. It appears that the world body too has been overawed by the money thrown around and had surrendered it's authority just as it did before the "Packer Circus."

The move certainly is going to have a deleterious effect on the established game which henceforth will be shorn off its competitive edge with players not caring a whit if they succeed or fail for their own countries, secure in the smug satisfaction that the money will be rolling in come what may.

True, any game not least cricket needs money to survive and most Governing bodies are awash with the moolah and players command astronomical salaries. The current move by the Indian Board to give its blessings to such a travesty as a countervailing force against the Zee Tv sponsored Indian Cricket League tournament - also offering mega bucks to players on it's pay roll is sure to open the floodgates.

Will this precipitate similar interests in other countries too having their 'own thing' with the involvement of business conglomerates to bid for players? Will the game of cricket one day come to be registered on the stock markets of the world?

The ICC better beware.