| MUMBAI/DELHI:
The high profile IPL schedule seems to be under a rejig overhaul. The
Home Ministry on Friday asked the Indian Premier League (IPL) organisers to sketch
a new calendar for the cash-rich Twenty20 tourney after studying the security
concerns of the various governments from the host states.
A
high level security meet was held to discuss and inspect the
re-worked IPL programme that was submitted to the government
body last week. The meeting was chaired by Home Minister P
Chidambaram and attended by Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta,
National Security Advisor (NSA) MK Narayanan and Intelligence
Bureau (IB) chief Rajeev Mathur.
After
a meeting with heads of paramilitary forces and a video-conferencing
with senior officials in the states hosting the games, Gupta
is understood to have apprised Chidambaram that most states
had put riders on hosting the games and insisted that this
could be done only if the centre provided paramilitary forces.
Accordingly,
Chidambaram rejected the revised dates provided by the IPL
for season 2 of the Twenty20 tournament and said these should
be reworked in view of the Lok Sabha elections which had to
take precedence over the sport.
Meanwhile,
Gupta accompanied by Narayanan, Mathur, and Research and Analysis
Wing (RAW) chief KC Verma along with other senior officials
held an internal meeting and then through video-conferencing
discussed the issue with other states.
Apart
from Tamil Nadu which outrightly rejected the proposal to host matches in the
state, all the other states agreed to host the matches on condition that at least
five to six companies (500-600 personnel) of paramilitary forces were kept at
the disposal of the state police for security related issues. A
senior Home Ministry official said the states had expressed the view that the
matches could be held peacefully only with the assistance of central security
forces. The
Home Ministry officials felt that cricketers would be considered a soft target
by militants, and the states of Maharashtra, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal
were insistent that the series was not possible without the central grid. Chidambaram
had earlier suggested that the IPL management consider postponing its second edition
as the attack in Lahore had cast its shadow on the series and did not agree with
the IPL authorities that they were capable of organizing their own security. The
minister is already on record as stating that terrorists might attempt to do something
"dramatic" during the month-long general elections that will be held
over five phases from 16 April till 13 May. The IPL window is from 10 April to
24 May. Preity
Zinta wants IPL to play out as per schedule Bollywood
actor and co-owner of Kings XI Punjab Preity Zinta has ruled out any reworking
of the dates as she said a lot of money had gone into the organization of the
tournament. Speaking
during a press meet held to announce her forthcoming film Videsh: Heaven on
Earth directed by the renowned Deepa Mehta, Zinta said all her Indian and
foreign players had confirmed that they would be coming to India for the T20 series. Noting
that what had happened with the Sri Lankan team in Pakistan was unfortunate, she
said "it is a slap on the face of the Indian security forces and their courage
if we feel they are not capable of defending the players or have no faith in the
system." | 
