By renaming the newly-built Motera stadium after Narendra Modi, the Gujarat Cricket Association and the state administration have created a totally avoidable controversy which could cause acute embarrassment to the Prime Minister. Many of the BJP’s opponents have been most critical of the fact that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, whose name was synonymous with the venue, has been insulted. On its part, the BJP has been at pains to clarify that the stadium was going to be one amongst many that would be part of the Sardar Patel sports complex. The Prime Minister is an iconic figure from the state but there are many amongst his own party colleagues who believe that places should not be named after living persons. If that was happening in the past, it was wrong and should not be repeated. Two mistakes do not constitute a right.
The entire matter has snowballed into a political battle where the BJP is claiming that Wankhede Stadium is named after a politician and so is Chepauk in Chennai which is now known as the Chidambaram Stadium. The Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and Rajiv Gandhi ground in Hyderabad are other examples. This may be so but renaming any place is like erasing history. In New Delhi, most of the roads that existed in Lutyens’ zone were given a new identity. The Curzon Road, for instance, is now Kasturba Gandhi Marg and the Willingdon Crescent is called the Mother Teresa Crescent. Similarly, Irwin Hospital was rechristened as Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital and the Willingdon Hospital became the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. Very few people may be aware that many years ago, even the famous Eden Gardens was briefly renamed as Ranji Stadium but the old name was restored. In Delhi, there was a huge uproar when the historic Ferozeshah Kotla was named as the Arun Jaitley stadium, something which my university senior and friend himself would not have supported, had he been alive. Ferozeshah Kotla should always remain Ferozeshah Kotla and like cricket venues around the world, should have stands named after famous cricketers. The bust that needed to have been put there should have been of Lal Amarnath, independent India’s first cricket skipper who used to spend most of his time watching and guiding youngsters at this place.
There are cricket lovers who would have been pleased to have Vinoo Mankad’s name associated with the Motera stadium. The late Indian allrounder was perhaps the greatest cricketer who hailed from Gujarat. We must learn to honour our sportspersons. Milkha Singh became a legend in his lifetime but never got his due. Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, along with Bishen Bedi, E.A.S. Prassana and B.S. Chandrashekar, have been ignored for too long. Ajit Pal Singh was the most gifted hockey centre half of his time who led India to a monumental World Cup victory in 1975. Ramanathan Krishnan, Prakash Padukone, P.T. Usha, Ashok Kumar, Rahul Dravid and Salim Durrani have inspired so many youngsters.
The main point is that if many wrongs were done during the Congress regime, the party is now bearing the consequences. Surely, the BJP does not want to emulate the Congress by replicating the mistakes. It would not like to land in a similar position ever. PM Modi is the most popular leader of the country. His contributions would be acknowledged by posterity and he would get due recognition in history.