A timely reminder

Sri Lankan cricket fans left the R. Premadasa Stadium on Sunday night deflated, beaten, but mostly ashamed. And it had nothing to do with the 135-run defeat inflicted on their team by Pakistan.

As the Army, STF and riot police brought tensions around the Premadasa Stadium under control, the now customary Twitter inquest began into what exactly had occurred to disrupt what was a traditionally good-natured contest. 

About 30 minutes prior to match referee Javagal Srinath suspending play, a fight had broken out at the scoreboard end which the SLC later said was down to two drunken parties. Riot police removed the perpetrators from the stadium, after which eyewitnesses said the brawling continued outside. A rock was then thrown into the stadium and onto the field leading to play eventually being temporarily suspended.

Lesser known is the fact that a rock also found its way into the press box through an open window. This would lend credence to the view that this had nothing to do with Pakistan winning and more to do with drunken hooliganism.

While both those points are true, a far more sinister storyline was being circulated on Twitter with reports emerging that a mosque had allegedly been stoned in the Maligawatte area. The assailants had apparently not been pleased at some Sri Lankan Muslims supporting the visiting Pakistan team. These reports, unsurprisingly, have neither been confirmed nor denied for that is the current way in which the media and police deal with such sensitive matters.

Sri Lanka Cricket to its credit has responded to the incident by banning liquor, glass bottles, sharp objects and matchboxes being brought into the stadium. This is an expected and necessary reaction, but a mere band-aid on a much larger wound.

Seeing the multicultural nature of Sri Lanka, it is neither news nor a recent phenomenon that segments of the population may choose to support our neighbours when it comes to the national pastime. What is recent is the backlash.

Leaving aside the possible reasons as to why the fights in the stands began, the simple fact that several nationalist opinions have since been freely shared on social media against those who committed the now apparently unforgivable sin of supporting another sports team is deeply saddening.

Sport was the last bastion of unity in Sri Lanka and now it too is tainted. In the last year and a half, certain forces in the country are alleged to have actively fostered a culture of animosity towards minorities for their own political gain. 

These forces were eventually stymied by the events of 8 January - and a more concerted effort has since been made towards reconciliation - but clearly, as the saying goes, the damage has already been done.

Though we are far from beyond saving, when the topic was broached on Sunday night, online commentators were either accused of being blind or giving political overtones to a “nothing” incident. As it usually is with these things, the truth is somewhere in the middle. 

This discussion needs to be had, not brushed under the carpet. That even sport is not immune proves the influence and pervasiveness of politics. Therein though lays the solution. This is the time for politicians to reach out to the public and make a stand against those looking to create disharmony.

With the 17 August General Elections less than a month away, Sunday night was a timely reminder of what exactly needs to be done.