Bangladesh Cricket Board’s decision to ban flags is shocking

A section of cheerful Bangladesh cricket fans

More than the Bangladesh cricket team, more than its players; the passionate cricket fans of this country have always earned enough adulation over the years. The Bangladeshi fans are colourful, the fans are attractive. They love to enjoy cricket. They are highly passionate about the game.

No matter which team plays in Mirpur, Chittagong, Khulna or Fatullah; the passionate Bangladeshi cricket fans don’t step back to exhibit their full support for the participating teams. Such a sporty attitude has made the Bangladeshi cricket fans extremely popular all over the world.

In the recently concluded Asia Cup in Dhaka; India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan had enjoyed enormous amount of support from the Bangladeshis at the stadium. Flags of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan flew in the gallery and one could not realize whether the match was going on at Kolkata, Lahore or Colombo. This indicates how passionate and hospitable the Bangladeshis are. The participating teams were made to feel at home in Dhaka. The atmosphere had always been electrifying.

In the ongoing World Twenty20 in Bangladesh the expression of passion has been the same. So far it has been a cricket carnival with a friendly atmosphere.

But sadly, from nowhere, some dull thoughts rose to the occasion to spoil the true spirit of the game.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have threatened to ban local fans if they are seen carrying flags of any other teams competing in the tournament. BCB’s spokesman Jalal Younis said the Board had issued a directive after it “noticed that some local fans were flying foreign flags flouting the country’s flag rules. We’ve received instruction in this regard. As such, we’ve ordered security officials and guards to make sure Bangladesh fans cannot carry or fly flags of foreign nations in the stadiums.”

The BCB order came on the eve of Bangladesh’s 43rd Independence Day celebrations.

Personally, I am pretty shocked by this decision and I also didn’t understand this ‘flag rule’. Why this ‘flag rule’ has cropped up suddenly? Is this ‘flag rule’ strictly applicable for the passionate sports fans in countries like England, Australia or South Africa?

I don’t think so. As because, during Bangladesh’s tour of England in 2005, I noticed many English cricket fans to carry Bangladesh’s flag. Many non-Bangladeshi fans were seen cheering for Shakib with the Bangladeshi flag during the World Twenty20 in 2009 and there are many such instances.

As a cricket fan, is it a crime to carry the flags of other national teams? Or putting a ban on carrying other teams’ flags and kill a cricket fan’s passion is a crime?

Supporting a team or cheering for that team is someone’s personal matter. A fan has full right to show his/her support for a team and Bangladesh being a democratic country, such a rule seems pretty autocratic which is absolutely unacceptable.

No Bangladeshi cricket fan supports other teams while they are playing against Bangladesh, but they do show cheer for India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa or Australia while they are not playing against Bangladesh. So, what’s wrong with this? That’s how the true spirit of cricket should be and Bangladesh cricket fans are the perfect role models of ‘genuine cricket lovers’.

Moreover, in an ICC event how can the BCB come up with such rules? This is an ICC event and surely, it has to be the ICC to look after such issues.

According to some critics, this rule has cropped up after watching many Bangladeshis to cheer for the Pakistan cricket team during the Asia Cup. I am not sure how legitimate this thought is as not only one country’s flag has been under the ban, but if this is true, then I must say that the BCB have committed something immature which has already earned criticism throughout the world. If the BCB judges Pakistan’s army’s atrocity of 1971 with Shahid Afridi’s sixes in the same manner, then it’s fair to say that the BCB still has not grown up. I don’t think that the BCB’s heart is enlightened by the true spirit of cricket.

Cricket is just a game. It should be enjoyed wholeheartedly. It should be witnessed by not wearing any political sunglasses. Neither Virat Kohli represents the Indian BSF nor does Shahid Afridi represent the brutal Pakistani army of 1971. They are cricketers who don’t spread hate but love and passion throughout the world. They are the ambassador of a game which the millions follow; they are the role models for millions. It’s a crime to murder a cricket fan’s passion. It’s not worthy to mix cricket with politics.