Never experienced this before: Bangladesh players' body head says getting death threats
Dhaka (PTI): Bangladesh's Cricketers' Welfare Association (CWAB) President Mohammad Mithun has said that he has received death threats for taking a stand for the players after they were targeted with derogatory comments by a top Board official.
In an interview to 'Cricbuzz', Mithun reiterated that he wants the national team to play next month's T20 World Cup but not with any security worries. Bangladesh is demanding that its four preliminary World Cup games be moved from India to Sri Lanka on account of security issues.
The players in the country boycotted the sport after Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) director Najmul Islam said that they would not be compensated if the team is withdrawn from the mega-event should the ICC refuse to relocate its matches. He also said that the players have achieved little to justify a payout.
"I've never had an experience like this. It's the first time in my life. I don't remember ever being involved in controversial talk. It's going over my head - when have I ever spoken against the country?" Mithun said.
"I don't know how to take this or describe it as it happens with me for the first time. I haven't used any word that goes against the country; I only spoke for the interest of cricket and the players.
"There is no personal issue here. Since I'm the president of an organization, if I don't talk about players' rights, what's the point of me being in this position? No one is above the country," he added.
Mithun said he hasn't yet formally informed the BCB about the threats but has come to know that even some players have received similar messages.
"I haven't informed the board. To be honest, I am not picking up calls from unknown numbers on my mobile. But I can't stop messages or voice notes on WhatsApp. I was asked about this there. It's not just me; my number is available to people because it goes to the press on behalf of CWAB.
"That's why I receive more (calls and messages). But I've heard from other players too that they have received threats, different ways and types of threats. I haven't talked to the board about this yet," he said.
"I don't even know how to take help from law enforcement because I have never gone to a police station for any legal matter in my life."
He then touched on the burning issue of whether Bangladesh should travel to India for the World Cup. Mithun said he wants the team to play the big event but not with a security threat hanging on the players.
"We definitely want player safety and security. We never want anyone to go and play under a life threat. We don't want that. But at the same time, we want the player to play in the World Cup because a World Cup is a World Cup.
"I believe the board and the Government will take a decision keeping the players' welfare in mind," he said.
Bangladesh's refusal to travel to India was preceded by the removal of pacer Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL on BCCI's instructions amid attacks on Hindus here. Though the Indian Board did not specifically cite that as the reason, the Bangladesh government and Board expressed their anger at the decision.
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SC refuses to entertain plea against deletion of names from WB voter list, terms it ‘premature’
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New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea by a group of 13 people seeking its intervention in the deletion of their names from the voter list during the Special Institutional Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, where polling for the first phase of the assembly election will be held on April 23.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi termed the petition "premature", directing the aggrieved parties to approach the established appellate tribunals instead.
"Since the petitioners (Quaraisha Yeasmin and others) have already approached the appellate tribunals… in our considered view, the apprehensions expressed in the petition are premature. If the plea is allowed, then necessary consequences will follow,” the bench said in its order, adding that it has not expressed any views on the merits of the plea.
The plea alleged that the Election Commission was summarily deleting names without following due process, and that appeals against these deletions were not being heard in a timely manner.
The Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court has set up as many as 19 tribunals headed by former HC chief justices and judges to decide appeals against deletions of names of persons from the voters’ lists.
Senior advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the poll panel, informed the court that there are approximately 30 to 34 lakh appeals currently pending. "Every tribunal now has over one lakh appeals to handle," the bench said.
The petitioners’ counsel argued that the EC had failed to place necessary orders before the relevant judicial authorities and that the "freezing date" for the electoral rolls should be extended.
"If I am not allowed to argue, then what is the use? Will these appeals be decided within a timeframe or just kept extending?" the counsel asked.
Justice Bagchi, during the hearing, referred to the sanctity of the electoral process and said the right to vote is not merely a constitutional formality but a "sentimental" pillar of democracy.
"The right to vote in a country you were born in is not just constitutional, but sentimental. It is about being part of a democracy and helping elect a government," he said.
He, however, said that the tribunals, manned by former judges, cannot be overburdened by fixing the timelines for adjudications.
"It is not the end justifying the means, but the means justifying the end," Justice Bagchi said.
"We need to protect due process rights. The voter should not be sandwiched between two constitutional authorities," he said, adding that it would not interdict the election process at this stage.
Justice Bagchi noted that the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice had already formulated the manner and mode for appeals, which began on Monday.
"Unless and until an enormous number of voters are excluded or it materially affects the election... the election cannot be cancelled," the bench said, adding that judicial intervention is intended to "promote elections, not interdict them."
The CJI emphasised that the petitioners must exhaust their remedies before the appellate tribunals.
Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.
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