Cricket fans around the world waited with bated breath for the conclusion of the Pakistan security team’s report on the Dharamshala cricket venue. While India has been unable to guarantee safety in the northern state, it is willing to move the Pakistan - India clash to Eden Gardens in Kolkata - and the ICC’s announcement has finally put rest to fears of Pakistan choosing to sit out of the tournament. Commentators have rightly touched upon the issues in India that this crisis revealed; rising intolerance, militant responses to problems and a political culture built around hating Pakistan. Yet not enough have touched upon the culpability of the Indian state in this matter and the consequences they must face by all norms of propriety.
After Virbhadra Singh, the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh started creating problems at the 11th hour, no one from the Congress - the supposedly secular party he belongs to - made any real effort to convince him otherwise. Similarly if the provincial authorities were unwilling to provide security, why didn’t the federal authorities step in. No effort was made by the federation or any political party to diffuse what was essentially a political problem - created solely to score points in their own constituency.
As for BCCI, whose lack of planning and foresight led to this unwanted situation, it is not going to be reprimanded by the ICC. Their spokesperson claimed that “India is a complex country”, and hence problems are expected; a lax view from a body adamant on fining every verbal altercation during heated up matches. Finally, the responsibility of making alternative arrangements for those fans - especially Pakistani - who had already made ticket purchases and hotel reservations also fall on BCCI. It they have the funds to host the World Cup, they have funds to reimburse fans who have been disadvantaged without any fault of their own.