Call to stop cricket tour

Tamils want Sri Lanka series off the table

LOCAL Tamil groups have called for the Proteas to pull out of their upcoming tour to Sri Lanka.

The Tamil Action Group has begun online petitions asking that the squad not engage with the Sri Lankan Cricket board in light of what it called the “atrocities committed against Tamils in the country”.

The group’s Dees Pillay said it was in the process of petitioning both Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula and Cricket South Africa in a bid to stop the matches.

“Sri Lanka is like a killing field now, particularly from a cricket perspective. It is from the killing fields to the playing fields because we have two or three players in the squad who are ex-soldiers. In South Africa, we say there is no normal sport in an abnormal society. Only a fool thinks that sports and politics don’t mix.”

The Proteas’ campaign of three one-day games and two test matches is set to kick off on July 6.

The series will be the first for newly appointed test captain Hashim Amla.

State attorney Krish Govender, commenting in his personal capacity, has also entered the debate.

“The issue in Sri Lanka is a deep-rooted one based on human rights.”

Govender said Sri Lanka was “perpetuating a state which perpetuated apartheid”. “One would expect that the [SA] cricket board, which seems to now be rooted in commercialism and profit, should examine its conscience and ask itself how it can quietly be going about its business and playing cricket in Sri Lanka when the world’s attention has been focused on this unjust government.”

The Sri Lankan defence

We have two or three players in the Sri Lankan squad who are ex-soldiers

force is under investigation by international groups over alleged human rights violations.

Cricket South Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the board was unaware of the call to halt the tour and would proceed as expected.

“CSA’s policy is to refrain from becoming involved in another member country’s domestic affairs and we will proceed with the tour as we are bound to in terms of the Future Tours Programme.”

Cricket commentator Robbie Naidoo said the group and Govender made valid points, but investigations needed to be completed before any decisions to boycott were made.

“If there were abuses that were in contravention of human rights conventions, then Sri Lanka needs to actually answer for it. These large international organisations that are probing this are the custodians of that and should they find them guilty, then there is no reason we shouldn’t boycott. However, they need to be found guilty of those abuses first.”

Specialist cricket commentator Aslam Kota agreed, adding: “It is not going to be an easy call for Cricket South Africa. CSA will want to look at this very carefully because when India curtailed their tour last year, they [CSA] experienced losses close to R300million and South Africa needs to recoup that.

“So they have extra issues to deal with before they can make any decision.”