Dbq The Relationship Between Cricket And Politics

The relationship between cricket and politics was a vacillating one that started when Great Britian conquered India in 1858. The liaison added to the problems India was already suffering like different sets of religious beleifs and social disunity, by bringing in traditions and regulations that only furthered the battle India was facing with itself. Even though India and Great Britian had problems, there was one thing that helped settle the disputes; cricket. Cricket was a mediator between India and it’s new rulers, but it also caused problems like segregation in social classes, religious tensions, and discrimination.

With Great Britian ruling India, there were several cases of the Indians being discriminated. The Indians were though

of as a lower class and were not allowed to play on the same field as the English during cricket matches and/or practices. Instead, the Indians played on a field that they were forced to share with polo players even though the sport left the ground unsuitable for cricket matches. (Doc 1) Discrimination like this is why Indians would get so enthusiastic when they were given chances to play on even levels with the English. The Indians were always deemed as useless to the English so when they were able to counter that notion against the English, their chests would accumulate with pride. (Doc 6) Losses like these are what helped the Indians and the Enlgish see eye to eye with the Indians and their people. When they finally conquered the audacity to view the Indians as cricket players instead of as “effete” (Doc 6),the English were able to put their ego aside and recruit and Indian cricket player Prince Ranjitsinhji for their team. (Doc 2) Although this was strange terriotory at first, the English knew that the Indians, Prince mostly in this case, woud better them in the long run.
The English were not the only people bringing down India.

Inda was fighting a war within themselves over religious differences. The country was divided by the Muslims and the Hindus. Both religions thought that they were the supier ones and the other was ludicrous. The two religions used cricket, a sport that was once their safe haven, as new grounds to deteriorize eachother for their religious choices. (Doc 7) Peace makers like Ghandi tried fighting for peace between the two religions but the hatred of one other overbeared the love both religons shared for their country. Ghandi was later murdered because of the never ending hostility of the two religions, but not before he was able to express his opinion on cricket tournament teams being seperated based on religion. He spoke about how religiously based teams were taboo and unsportsmanlike, and that the desciosn to draft the teams like that never made sense to him. (Doc 8) The religous conflict wasn’t even resolved when India and Pakistan split into different countries in 1947 because of their pronounced religious tensions. If you were a Muslim still residing in India after the split, you were expected to cheer for the Hindus, and celebrate when they won. It was considered shameful to be upset about the Muslims losing. (Doc 9) If you wanted to cheer for the Muslims, it was only accepted to do so in Pakistan. The battle between the two religons is still as strident today and it was over a hundred years ago. At this point,

all people want is peace between the two religions. It grew difficult to feel a sense of saftey when the countries were almost quite litterally ripping each other in shreds. People woth power, took after the steps of peace leaders like Ghandi, and prayed for peace and harmony between the two religions. Leaders like Muhammad Ali Jinnah fought for sportsmenship and unity between the Hindus and the Muslims. (Doc 5)
Even if the two religions quit butting heads, there was still the issue of social disunity.

Higherer classes were not accepting of the lower classes and the lower classes were distrusting of the higher classes, leaving an imbalance because of the idealism set by their Great Britian rulers that the richer are better. The harrasmnet of the lower class never faded with time, as a Hindu woman in the UK was ridiculed and called a dirty charmar (low class dirty bitch) in front of her nine- year old son at her local grocery store. There has been no way to stop this kind of provocation but cricket has been a way that people have been using for years to try and get control of the situation. The lower class played the game for not only themselves, but to earn the respect of the higher class. Around the year 1906, the upper-caste Hindus found out one of their teammates was lower-caste. This created a tension that melted away when they came to the conclusion that his skill and his spirit was needed to make the team better. Because of the sport, he was accepted. (Doc 4) The game of cricket has been uniting since, bringing together countries, religions, and social rankings of all kinds. (Doc 3) Though there are issues still to this day, cricket has proved it;s place in bringing people together for hundred of years. People all hate each other for thousands of reasons, are bound together by their common love of the game. (Doc

10)
The relationship between cricket and politics is a complicate one to say the least. While it has driven people away, it has also pulled people together in monumental ways. Is there a way for people to see past their indifference and unite? It’s not clear enough to say for sure, but maybe when people push past their differences and open up their eyes, they will realize that they are not so different. They once shared a culture, and they still share a heated history, but they will always be able to come together for the one thing they share a passion for; cricket.