October 1, 2025 • 22 mins
First, The Indian Express' National Sports Editor Sandeep Dwivedi talks about how the Indian cricket team’s decision to not shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts has deepened the rivalry between the two sides in an unprecedented way.
Next, The Indian Express' Maushree Seth discusses the partial demolition of hockey legend Mohammed Shahid’s ancestral home that has sparked political reactions. (13:34)
Lastly, we talk about a scaffolding collapse at a major power project site in Chennai that has left nine migrant workers dead. (20:13)
Hosted by Ichha Sharma
Produced and written by Shashank Bhargava and Ichha Sharma
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
Next, The Indian Express' Maushree Seth discusses the partial demolition of hockey legend Mohammed Shahid’s ancestral home that has sparked political reactions. (13:34)
Lastly, we talk about a scaffolding collapse at a major power project site in Chennai that has left nine migrant workers dead. (20:13)
Hosted by Ichha Sharma
Produced and written by Shashank Bhargava and Ichha Sharma
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In the third episode of our ongoing collaboration with Central
Square Foundation, we talk about sharing schools learning quality data
publicly so that parents can make a more informed choice. Usually,
when parents assess schools for their children, they focus on
non academic factors like infrastructure and school facilities, but they
(00:21):
do not have access to information regarding the most important factor,
that is student learning quality. The National Education Policy twenty
twenty clearly calls out for a need to do that.
It places strong emphasis on public disclosure of school learning
quality data. To get a deeper insight into how this
is going to happen, we will be joined by experts
(00:43):
who have been working hard to implement this reform. The
episode is tomorrow, third of October. It will be available
on our website, in an Express dot com, and everywhere
you get your podcasts. Make sure to tune in to
listen to the first episode of the series. Check out
the links provided in the description. Now on with the show.
(01:04):
In this episode, we talk about the partial demolition of
hockey legend Muhammad Shahid's and Sistral home that has sparked
political reactions. We also talk about a skiffolding collapse at
a major power project site in Chennai that has left
nine migrant workers dead. But we begin today with how
the Indian cricket team's decision to not shake hands with
(01:27):
their Pakistani counterparts has deepened the rivalry between the two
sides in an unprecedented way.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Hi, I'm atcha Sharma and you're listening to three things
the Indian Express New Show.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Last week, India defeated Pakistan by five wickets in the
final to claim their Nine Day Shaka title. It was
a thrilling contest that went down to the very last over,
with the Lakwardmar finishing unbeaten on sixty nine or fifty
three balls and Rinko Singh hitting the winning four of
the only ball he faced in the entire tournament. But
(02:08):
despite the drama on the field, it is the non
cricketing aspect of the tournament that has dominated headlines. And
this is because from the group stage itself, Indian captain
Suru Kumariyadav refused to shake hands with his Pakistani counterpart
and after winning the final, the team declined to accept
the trophy from Asia Cricket Council Chief Morsin Nakwe, who
(02:30):
also happens to be Pakistan's Interior Minister and the chairman
of the Pakistan Cricket Board. Now, all this comes just
months after the deadly Pahlgam terror attack and India's Operation Sindhur,
which targeted nine terror sites in Pakistan, developments that made
it in the cricketing rhetoric between the two sides emotionally
and politically charged. For example, Prime Minister Aryan Remodi hailed
(02:54):
India's victory in the final as Operation Sindhur on the
games field, while before that, Nakwe had shared an image
on social media showing Pakistani players dressed in olive green
Air Force dungrats. Now, to discuss this controversy and its implications,
Milage Shashang Pargav speaks to the Inexpresses National sports editor
(03:15):
Sanday Devede Sunday.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Before we talk about the whole handshake controversy, tell us
about the tournament itself, how heated, how fierce were the
matches between India and Pakistan this time?
Speaker 4 (03:27):
Okay, since you say let's start about the tournament, so
I'll start with the tournament. This was the tournament with
India is the world number one and the other teams
are world number eight, world number nine one number ten maybe,
so we're talking about not the greatest of cricketing contest.
It was always going to be lopsided, but thanks to
so many things like not shaking hands, not taking the trophy,
(03:48):
and god knows what all they didn't do and what
all they did, it became the talking point of this
Asia Cup. I have covered so many cricket matches since
the last thirty years, but never ever there has been
any tournament, or never ever has been an India Pakistan
match which was so acrimonious, so toxic that at times
you wonder that whether you are covering cricket or you
(04:08):
are covering politics here right, it's a classic case of
a match happening I think months after Operation Shindhu and
the terror attack on India, so it was an aftermath,
but this wasn't happening for the first time. India and
Pakistan have played cricket after many such wars and things
had not been this bad and this ugly. So here
somehow things started very early. We are not sure whether
(04:31):
we want to play them. Even when the tournament started,
there was these massive voices in India, especially on television,
where people say that why are you playing cricket with them. Okay,
that is a sentiment, whether you agree with it or
you not agree with it. But then the government had
a lot many compulsions, right, they did allow India to
go and BCCI, as usual, had to go by what
(04:52):
the government tells them to That has been their policy
for ages. So India goes there to play a tournament
which there are many people in the country, in India
and also in Pakistan, they don't want cricket with each
other because of the recent tensions. Now just imagine a player,
Just just imagine somebody like say a young player or
even a less experienced player like Surya Komariado. Now he
(05:14):
also has to be aware that they don't need to
be look to be too friendly with the Pakistani's same
is true for the Pakistan players. They also need to
So what do they come up with. They come up
with an idea that okay, if I shake hands, if
I share a smile with them, or if I am
seen talking to them, it might be conceived in a
very different way than just two cricketers talking on the field,
(05:35):
as it has always been the case.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
So it was decided that.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
The Indians won't shake hands with them and then as
you say, that's what it started.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
And do we know who decided this? Was it Captain
Surya Kumariyada himself who took this call.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
So these things can never be confirmed.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
But what we've come to know and are reporters like
Sandep g who was at the ground and they in
Rapande are other cricket reporter and Veen kat Krishna who's
another guy, are very keen reporters and who know how
things work in BCCI and within the dressing room. So
what we understood that it was a players who took
a call and the reason for the call was this
(06:12):
that they didn't want to be in a situation where
people would troll them on social media just for shaking hands, right,
Because see it's funny like at the start of the tournament,
there is this general Captains meet where all the captains
are together on the stage and they talk about the
tournament the chances. So that's when Suria had shaken hands
with the Pakistan captain. And later in before the tournament started,
(06:34):
there's another function where the ACC chief who's also the
Interior Minister of Pakistan and also the Pakistan Cricket Chief
massin Nakwi, he was present, he again shook hands with
Suria and already the trolling had started, right, and there
were always these very caustic discussions on television where Suria
was being labeled as a guy that why is he
shaking hands when when we were fighting a war with
(06:55):
them some months back? Right, So I guess that was
the pressure where it was taken a call by Suria
Kumariyado primarily, but he went to the dressing room, had
to talk with his players and they all decided that, yeah,
let's not shake hands. But I guess there was a
slight problem with that that maybe this wasn't conveyed to
the Pakistani is well in advance to the toss during
(07:15):
the first match, like they could have had a chat
with them and sat with them.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
Okay, this is how it is going to be, so
the situation won't be that awkward.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
That Suria had to absolutely fold his hand at the toss,
as if like by instinct he would just extend his
hand and then it'll be a problem. Right, So yeah,
that's how it started, and so there was no handshake,
and yeah, the pakistanis now insists that, yeah, they were
keen on shaking hands, but India wasn't and something.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Are there any specific protocols about this in cricket tournaments?
Are there rules for example regarding shaking hands?
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Not really like cricket as anyway, is very dodgy and
very ambiguous rules starting with LBW. I'm sure like, try
explaining LBW to a person who's not into cricket and
he will tell you how cricket rules are.
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Right.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
So, and cricket doesn't like if you go to Olympics
or somebody, they will have everything on paper.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
Okay, you need to do this, you need to do that.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
But cricket isn't that awolved right in terms of administrator,
in terms of rules, in terms of laws. So cricket
is mostly about laws, right, which is another gift from
that archaic cricket game which you play. Laws can be
interpreted in the way you want to. Cricket is governed
by laws.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
They are not troubled by rules.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
So yeah, that's why cricket has these endless debates on
the spirit of the game and sportsmanship and all these
things which can't be put down on pen and paper.
So yeah, Suria can definitely ask the ICC or ACC
or who is or the match reft is saying show
me the book where it is written that I'm obliged
to shake hands, and I'm sure like the match if
we won't have an answer to that.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
So yeah, he can get away by not shaking but
taking a stand.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Then it became slightly complicated when things were said at
the postmatch press conferences at the award presentation, things which
the Pakistan players did on the field again making the
or references.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
So even that was very diabolical and shameful.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
And what do you think handshakes in these matches symbolize?
What do you think makes them so important?
Speaker 4 (09:11):
I guess it's the whole idea of sports, right, So
you convey at the start of the match that, okay,
like there's nothing against you, like maybe we are good
friends also, but for the next fifty hours or one
hundred hours or the twenty ohs which we play, we
will be at each other. We will be very competitive.
It will be a cut throat battle, but it is
just a sport which you are playing. Once that is over,
we'll shake hands again and to say it's over now,
(09:33):
let's go out and we can share things we can.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
And see cricket has always been like that.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Like there have been so many instances as soon as
the match gets over, a young player from one team
goes to the senior from the other team to ask,
like in case, if you can help, if there's some advice,
if you've got some tips. Even in football, you play
crazy match, you push each other, you shove each other,
you try all games manship. But as soon as the
match gets over, they shake hands, they change their t
shirts and then they go to their dressing rooms and
(10:00):
even at times they go to each other's dressing room
to have a beer. Maybe like it doesn't work in cricket,
but it doesn't work in India, but in Australia and
England ashes is the most intensely fought series. But there
have been so many examples of and there is a
tradition where people go to each other's dressing room after
the match gets over and they share a drink. It
is exactly what happened in the India England series Test series.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
We just got over.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
It was the most intense series ever to to It
finishes on the last day and as soon as the
match gets over, the England team invited the Indians to
their dressing room they had such a great time, that's
what the players said, like just exchanging with each other
and just celebrating the great cricket which they have played.
Speaker 5 (10:40):
So that's what the tradition is.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
But yeah, in case here, I think Asheka was definitely
not one of those kinds of tournaments. And again I
insist India played some stunning cricket, outstanding cricket they've played,
but the things could have been handled better.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Right, and things went beyond just not shaking hands. Later
after the tournament, the Indian team refused to accept the
trophy from the Asia Cricket Council Chief Mason Natwe and
later Indian players waited for nearly an hour, but they
still didn't receive the trophy. Have they received the trophy now, No.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
They haven't yet because yes, still they had a meeting
where the Indian representative would ask the a SEC chief
Mossin Nukley about them. He didn't have others, so the
reports say that he didn't then give them a clear answer,
and we are not sure when the trophy will be returned.
But yeah, like India was definitely, yeah, they should have
handled it better. But yeah, ACC chief also didn't do
the right, things, the kind of tweets he put out,
(11:37):
he stoked the fire also, so I'm not saying that
India was justified in delaying the presentation, but yeah, they
were also equally instigated by Pakistan, by Pakistan chief. So yeah,
it just things just got out of hand. And I
think even just for cricket, it was bad publicity, it
was bad press. Those visuals were when the players are
sitting on the grass and the person who's supposed to
(11:59):
give them the trophies were on the podium. I think
it never happens. Can you ever imagine such things happening
in say a World Cup football or for a Grand
Slam tennis match? The match has ended and somebody is
ready to give the award and the players are sitting
there not turning up. Forget everything. The modern television people
won't allow this. Like every minute is factored there, and
(12:21):
it is so precise and so calculated that okay, there
are actually that as soon as the match gets over
within five minutes, the prize destitution needs to start and
it needs to get over in the next ten minutes. Right,
this is the precision, and this is how modern spots
are being conducted.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
And here we have.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
It was quite amateurish end to an international match. The
organizers should have anticipated this problem, like if in case,
if this was an eventuality, maybe there shouldn't have been
a prize distitution at all. Like you just end the
tournament and it's over. We know who's won and they
get the trophy or what they what over they do.
But the scenes that unfolded at the end, like it
(12:58):
was just one hour after the match and.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Something is there a fear that this could set a
precedent because India and Pakistan will continue to play in
the future. In fact, the women's team are facing each
other later this week.
Speaker 5 (13:11):
Yeah yeah, yeah, that's the most worrying thing.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
This has just opened an endless problem for India and
for Pakistan. That needs to be a closure, just sensible.
People need to step into this and figure out what's
going to happen because this can't be happening every time.
This Sunday, India and Pakistan women's team will be playing
in a World Cup game, right, so god knows just speculation.
Will they'll shake hands? What will people do when they
(13:34):
take wickets? Will again they'll be mentioned of wars? And
again like this whole thing see sport is such a
thing that you can't hang so many things on something
as fickle as a sport. Right, this whole thing about
the pride of the nation depends on one cricket game.
That's a ridiculous way of conducting and watching sports, right.
It's sports is something which people need to sit and
(13:55):
enjoy it. Now, if there's this whole pressure of what's
going to happen, how will the fans re act the
kind of reaction which we'll get from Pakistan in case
India loses? What the pressure on Pakistan? That what they'll
have to listen the next day and it won't be
about cricket. So people should be wise enough to know
that you don't take the scale of the game so
high that it becomes very difficult when you think about
(14:18):
the consequences.
Speaker 5 (14:19):
It could be just okay.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
One team that day was better, they won and the
other team didn't do well, so they lost. This is
how sports needs to be seen and this is a
much more saner way of watching sports.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
And next eternal attention to Varanasi. But earlier this week,
the ancestral house of Olympian hockey legend Muhammad Shahid, part
of India's nineteen eighty Olympic gold medal winning team was
partly demolished as part of a road widening project. The
move has triggered sharp political reactions, with the opposition calling
it an insult to a legendary Olympian who in the
(14:57):
past has also been acclauded with a p Mashi and
an Arshina Award. While Shahid's wife says the family received
compensation and has asked for a memorial in his honor,
some of his relatives have opposed the demolition, arguing that
the payout was inadequate. So to understand how a road
project in Waranessy turned into a flashpoint over legacy, we
(15:18):
speak to the Indian expresses more. She said, who begins
by telling us how it all began.
Speaker 6 (15:25):
See, it all started with the video which came in
of when the demolition was taking place. And the video
showed that policeman is standing during the demolition to ensure
that everything went smoothly. There were few people who were
standing in front of them and actually pleading for some
more time to be given and it was the video
kind of claimed that they were family members of Shahid.
(15:45):
So this particular video went viral on social media and
tagging these particular videos. The opposition parties kind of targeted
the government saying that since Shid was the hockey legend
and instead of showing respect to his family, the home
is being demolish. So it actually started from that particular
video or during the demolition that came into limelight from
(16:06):
that day.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
And all she we understand that there are nine co
owners of the house, including Shahad's siblings, So how has
the family reacted to this?
Speaker 6 (16:15):
See that is from where the confusion had started. The
administration claimed that maximum people who are the co owners
or the co residents of the house had taken the compensation.
So when I spoke to his wife Pervens, he said
that Shahid were ten brothers and sisters, so nine were
claimants in this particular house because family of one sister
(16:37):
had given away the claims, so the compensation was to
be divided among all these nine members. So out of
these nine, they were only two brothers who have not
taken the compensation so far as they were demanding more compensation.
Rest all have taken the compensation, including family that his
wife and children of Shahid. And she said that because
(16:59):
the land did not belonged to them. They did not
have the papers and sistral papers for the land, so
it's just the construction which was there. So they were
given to it thirty two lack as the compensation, which
was equally divided among all the brothers and sisters. So
his particular family got chair of about three point five lacs.
So in fact, I was asked that either I should
demolish my portion or it should be left on the
(17:19):
comment to demolish. So she said that I kind of
gave the permission to demolish the structure which was under
our position as well as the other members of the
family excluding these two brothers.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Right, and so how has the government justified the demolition?
See the compensation?
Speaker 6 (17:38):
What the administration is saying, it's being done by PWD
Public Works department. So they were saying that the road
widening project, which is it's about nine point five kilometer
along road which is one of the hearts of the
city Cutcherry area. So in that this road widening project
of nine point three two five kilometers something, so about
nine kilometer has already been and it's just about three
(18:01):
hundred meter which remains. And in that area. These about
about seventy residences. So out of these seventy residences, forty
seven people have already taken the compensation. This was the
case with most of the people said they were occupants
of that area for ages like their sistors were or
had occupied it, but they did not have the proper
document so in some cases there were some issues. So
(18:25):
the compensation was decided unanimously for all these properties and
this particular property.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Was one among them. Even on the day when.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
This particular demolition took place, they were total about twelve
properties that were demolished including them. So the remaining out
of seventy forty seven have been demolished as they have
taken the composition there for the remaining the process is
going on for coordination of the compensation as such.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
And lastly, Mashep, we know that Congress and Asad Samaj
party leaders have condemned the move. So could I talk
about how are the opposition parties framing this incident.
Speaker 6 (19:00):
The opposition is kind of targeted the government saying that
while Congress raised the issue saying that government should give
a proper compensation to the family, opposition is also demanded
that in fact the family should be given proper house.
They've said that instead of taking care of their legends
(19:20):
and their families, government is going on using the bulldozer
on the families, on the houses of these legends. So
opposition has been targeting the government. But as far as
the family is concerned, the wife is concerned in particular.
So wife said that since we have accepted the compensation
and it was under the road widening project and other
houses were also being.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Acquired for that.
Speaker 6 (19:41):
But she said that she has one particular demand from
the government that since his still home is being demolished,
so there should be a memorial built in his name
in surrounding that area, so that the future generation could
remember him and his glory.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
And in the end we talk about Chenne. On Tuesday evening,
tragedies struck at the edge of Chennai's industrial belt at
the construction site of a massive power project in Ennore.
The scaffolding gave way, sending a group of workers plummeting
nearly thirty feet. By the time the chaos cleared, nine
migrant laborers from Assam were dead and at least ten
(20:22):
more were injured. The men had been working on a
concrete arc part of the thirteen hundred and twenty megawat
expansion of the North Chennai Thermal Power Station. It was
a routine day until the steel structure supporting them suddenly collapsed.
Fellow workers rushed to pull the injured out. Ambulances ferried
them to Stanley Government Hospital, but for nine of them
(20:43):
it was fatal. Pamil Nadu's Power Utility has called the
accident an unfortunate incident, but that phrase hardly captures the
scale of loss. A probe is underway. Billie have sealed
the site and structural inspections have been ordered for the
families in Assam, though those in weststigations are small comfort.
As Sam Chief Minister him and the Business Arma confirmed
(21:04):
the victim's identities and said arrangements were being made to
bring their remains back. In his words, the state would
coordinate with Tamil Nadu authorities to ensure they returned to
their families at the earliest Back in Chennai, Chief Minister
m ke Stalin express sorrow, calling the debts a deeply
saddening loss. He announced compensation of ten lak each for
(21:25):
the families of the deceased. Prime Minister arranged remore The
two offered condolences, promising two lack excretia from the PM
Relief Fund for each family and fifty thousand for the
injured at the site itself pull us from the Avadi
Commissionerrate are probing what caused this caffolding to fail. Early
reports suggest possible lapses in safety checks, though details remain unclear.
(21:46):
Workers who survived said the structure looked unstable and some
had raised concerns. You were listening to Three Things by
the Indian Express. Today's show was edited and mixed by
and produced by Shishanghgov and me Ichasharma. If you like
the show, do subscribe to us wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
You can also recommend it to someone you think may
like it, with a friend or in your family. This
is the best way for people to get to know
about us. You can also tweet us at Express podcast
or write to us at podcast at Indian Express dot com.
In the third episode of our ongoing collaboration with Central
Square Foundation, we talk about sharing schools learning quality data
publicly so that parents can make a more informed choice. Usually,
when parents assess schools for their children, they focus on
non academic factors like infrastructure and school facilities, but they
(00:21):
do not have access to information regarding the most important factor,
that is student learning quality. The National Education Policy twenty
twenty clearly calls out for a need to do that.
It places strong emphasis on public disclosure of school learning
quality data. To get a deeper insight into how this
is going to happen, we will be joined by experts
(00:43):
who have been working hard to implement this reform. The
episode is tomorrow, third of October. It will be available
on our website, in an Express dot com, and everywhere
you get your podcasts. Make sure to tune in to
listen to the first episode of the series. Check out
the links provided in the description. Now on with the show.
(01:04):
In this episode, we talk about the partial demolition of
hockey legend Muhammad Shahid's and Sistral home that has sparked
political reactions. We also talk about a skiffolding collapse at
a major power project site in Chennai that has left
nine migrant workers dead. But we begin today with how
the Indian cricket team's decision to not shake hands with
(01:27):
their Pakistani counterparts has deepened the rivalry between the two
sides in an unprecedented way.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Hi, I'm atcha Sharma and you're listening to three things
the Indian Express New Show.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Last week, India defeated Pakistan by five wickets in the
final to claim their Nine Day Shaka title. It was
a thrilling contest that went down to the very last over,
with the Lakwardmar finishing unbeaten on sixty nine or fifty
three balls and Rinko Singh hitting the winning four of
the only ball he faced in the entire tournament. But
(02:08):
despite the drama on the field, it is the non
cricketing aspect of the tournament that has dominated headlines. And
this is because from the group stage itself, Indian captain
Suru Kumariyadav refused to shake hands with his Pakistani counterpart
and after winning the final, the team declined to accept
the trophy from Asia Cricket Council Chief Morsin Nakwe, who
(02:30):
also happens to be Pakistan's Interior Minister and the chairman
of the Pakistan Cricket Board. Now, all this comes just
months after the deadly Pahlgam terror attack and India's Operation Sindhur,
which targeted nine terror sites in Pakistan, developments that made
it in the cricketing rhetoric between the two sides emotionally
and politically charged. For example, Prime Minister Aryan Remodi hailed
(02:54):
India's victory in the final as Operation Sindhur on the
games field, while before that, Nakwe had shared an image
on social media showing Pakistani players dressed in olive green
Air Force dungrats. Now, to discuss this controversy and its implications,
Milage Shashang Pargav speaks to the Inexpresses National sports editor
(03:15):
Sanday Devede Sunday.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Before we talk about the whole handshake controversy, tell us
about the tournament itself, how heated, how fierce were the
matches between India and Pakistan this time?
Speaker 4 (03:27):
Okay, since you say let's start about the tournament, so
I'll start with the tournament. This was the tournament with
India is the world number one and the other teams
are world number eight, world number nine one number ten maybe,
so we're talking about not the greatest of cricketing contest.
It was always going to be lopsided, but thanks to
so many things like not shaking hands, not taking the trophy,
(03:48):
and god knows what all they didn't do and what
all they did, it became the talking point of this
Asia Cup. I have covered so many cricket matches since
the last thirty years, but never ever there has been
any tournament, or never ever has been an India Pakistan
match which was so acrimonious, so toxic that at times
you wonder that whether you are covering cricket or you
(04:08):
are covering politics here right, it's a classic case of
a match happening I think months after Operation Shindhu and
the terror attack on India, so it was an aftermath,
but this wasn't happening for the first time. India and
Pakistan have played cricket after many such wars and things
had not been this bad and this ugly. So here
somehow things started very early. We are not sure whether
(04:31):
we want to play them. Even when the tournament started,
there was these massive voices in India, especially on television,
where people say that why are you playing cricket with them. Okay,
that is a sentiment, whether you agree with it or
you not agree with it. But then the government had
a lot many compulsions, right, they did allow India to
go and BCCI, as usual, had to go by what
(04:52):
the government tells them to That has been their policy
for ages. So India goes there to play a tournament
which there are many people in the country, in India
and also in Pakistan, they don't want cricket with each
other because of the recent tensions. Now just imagine a player,
Just just imagine somebody like say a young player or
even a less experienced player like Surya Komariado. Now he
(05:14):
also has to be aware that they don't need to
be look to be too friendly with the Pakistani's same
is true for the Pakistan players. They also need to
So what do they come up with. They come up
with an idea that okay, if I shake hands, if
I share a smile with them, or if I am
seen talking to them, it might be conceived in a
very different way than just two cricketers talking on the field,
(05:35):
as it has always been the case.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
So it was decided that.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
The Indians won't shake hands with them and then as
you say, that's what it started.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
And do we know who decided this? Was it Captain
Surya Kumariyada himself who took this call.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
So these things can never be confirmed.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
But what we've come to know and are reporters like
Sandep g who was at the ground and they in
Rapande are other cricket reporter and Veen kat Krishna who's
another guy, are very keen reporters and who know how
things work in BCCI and within the dressing room. So
what we understood that it was a players who took
a call and the reason for the call was this
(06:12):
that they didn't want to be in a situation where
people would troll them on social media just for shaking hands, right,
Because see it's funny like at the start of the tournament,
there is this general Captains meet where all the captains
are together on the stage and they talk about the
tournament the chances. So that's when Suria had shaken hands
with the Pakistan captain. And later in before the tournament started,
(06:34):
there's another function where the ACC chief who's also the
Interior Minister of Pakistan and also the Pakistan Cricket Chief
massin Nakwi, he was present, he again shook hands with
Suria and already the trolling had started, right, and there
were always these very caustic discussions on television where Suria
was being labeled as a guy that why is he
shaking hands when when we were fighting a war with
(06:55):
them some months back? Right, So I guess that was
the pressure where it was taken a call by Suria
Kumariyado primarily, but he went to the dressing room, had
to talk with his players and they all decided that, yeah,
let's not shake hands. But I guess there was a
slight problem with that that maybe this wasn't conveyed to
the Pakistani is well in advance to the toss during
(07:15):
the first match, like they could have had a chat
with them and sat with them.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
Okay, this is how it is going to be, so
the situation won't be that awkward.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
That Suria had to absolutely fold his hand at the toss,
as if like by instinct he would just extend his
hand and then it'll be a problem. Right, So yeah,
that's how it started, and so there was no handshake,
and yeah, the pakistanis now insists that, yeah, they were
keen on shaking hands, but India wasn't and something.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Are there any specific protocols about this in cricket tournaments?
Are there rules for example regarding shaking hands?
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Not really like cricket as anyway, is very dodgy and
very ambiguous rules starting with LBW. I'm sure like, try
explaining LBW to a person who's not into cricket and
he will tell you how cricket rules are.
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Right.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
So, and cricket doesn't like if you go to Olympics
or somebody, they will have everything on paper.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
Okay, you need to do this, you need to do that.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
But cricket isn't that awolved right in terms of administrator,
in terms of rules, in terms of laws. So cricket
is mostly about laws, right, which is another gift from
that archaic cricket game which you play. Laws can be
interpreted in the way you want to. Cricket is governed
by laws.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
They are not troubled by rules.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
So yeah, that's why cricket has these endless debates on
the spirit of the game and sportsmanship and all these
things which can't be put down on pen and paper.
So yeah, Suria can definitely ask the ICC or ACC
or who is or the match reft is saying show
me the book where it is written that I'm obliged
to shake hands, and I'm sure like the match if
we won't have an answer to that.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
So yeah, he can get away by not shaking but
taking a stand.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Then it became slightly complicated when things were said at
the postmatch press conferences at the award presentation, things which
the Pakistan players did on the field again making the
or references.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
So even that was very diabolical and shameful.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
And what do you think handshakes in these matches symbolize?
What do you think makes them so important?
Speaker 4 (09:11):
I guess it's the whole idea of sports, right, So
you convey at the start of the match that, okay,
like there's nothing against you, like maybe we are good
friends also, but for the next fifty hours or one
hundred hours or the twenty ohs which we play, we
will be at each other. We will be very competitive.
It will be a cut throat battle, but it is
just a sport which you are playing. Once that is over,
we'll shake hands again and to say it's over now,
(09:33):
let's go out and we can share things we can.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
And see cricket has always been like that.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Like there have been so many instances as soon as
the match gets over, a young player from one team
goes to the senior from the other team to ask,
like in case, if you can help, if there's some advice,
if you've got some tips. Even in football, you play
crazy match, you push each other, you shove each other,
you try all games manship. But as soon as the
match gets over, they shake hands, they change their t
shirts and then they go to their dressing rooms and
(10:00):
even at times they go to each other's dressing room
to have a beer. Maybe like it doesn't work in cricket,
but it doesn't work in India, but in Australia and
England ashes is the most intensely fought series. But there
have been so many examples of and there is a
tradition where people go to each other's dressing room after
the match gets over and they share a drink. It
is exactly what happened in the India England series Test series.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
We just got over.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
It was the most intense series ever to to It
finishes on the last day and as soon as the
match gets over, the England team invited the Indians to
their dressing room they had such a great time, that's
what the players said, like just exchanging with each other
and just celebrating the great cricket which they have played.
Speaker 5 (10:40):
So that's what the tradition is.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
But yeah, in case here, I think Asheka was definitely
not one of those kinds of tournaments. And again I
insist India played some stunning cricket, outstanding cricket they've played,
but the things could have been handled better.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Right, and things went beyond just not shaking hands. Later
after the tournament, the Indian team refused to accept the
trophy from the Asia Cricket Council Chief Mason Natwe and
later Indian players waited for nearly an hour, but they
still didn't receive the trophy. Have they received the trophy now, No.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
They haven't yet because yes, still they had a meeting
where the Indian representative would ask the a SEC chief
Mossin Nukley about them. He didn't have others, so the
reports say that he didn't then give them a clear answer,
and we are not sure when the trophy will be returned.
But yeah, like India was definitely, yeah, they should have
handled it better. But yeah, ACC chief also didn't do
the right, things, the kind of tweets he put out,
(11:37):
he stoked the fire also, so I'm not saying that
India was justified in delaying the presentation, but yeah, they
were also equally instigated by Pakistan, by Pakistan chief. So yeah,
it just things just got out of hand. And I
think even just for cricket, it was bad publicity, it
was bad press. Those visuals were when the players are
sitting on the grass and the person who's supposed to
(11:59):
give them the trophies were on the podium. I think
it never happens. Can you ever imagine such things happening
in say a World Cup football or for a Grand
Slam tennis match? The match has ended and somebody is
ready to give the award and the players are sitting
there not turning up. Forget everything. The modern television people
won't allow this. Like every minute is factored there, and
(12:21):
it is so precise and so calculated that okay, there
are actually that as soon as the match gets over
within five minutes, the prize destitution needs to start and
it needs to get over in the next ten minutes. Right,
this is the precision, and this is how modern spots
are being conducted.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
And here we have.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
It was quite amateurish end to an international match. The
organizers should have anticipated this problem, like if in case,
if this was an eventuality, maybe there shouldn't have been
a prize distitution at all. Like you just end the
tournament and it's over. We know who's won and they
get the trophy or what they what over they do.
But the scenes that unfolded at the end, like it
(12:58):
was just one hour after the match and.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Something is there a fear that this could set a
precedent because India and Pakistan will continue to play in
the future. In fact, the women's team are facing each
other later this week.
Speaker 5 (13:11):
Yeah yeah, yeah, that's the most worrying thing.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
This has just opened an endless problem for India and
for Pakistan. That needs to be a closure, just sensible.
People need to step into this and figure out what's
going to happen because this can't be happening every time.
This Sunday, India and Pakistan women's team will be playing
in a World Cup game, right, so god knows just speculation.
Will they'll shake hands? What will people do when they
(13:34):
take wickets? Will again they'll be mentioned of wars? And
again like this whole thing see sport is such a
thing that you can't hang so many things on something
as fickle as a sport. Right, this whole thing about
the pride of the nation depends on one cricket game.
That's a ridiculous way of conducting and watching sports, right.
It's sports is something which people need to sit and
(13:55):
enjoy it. Now, if there's this whole pressure of what's
going to happen, how will the fans re act the
kind of reaction which we'll get from Pakistan in case
India loses? What the pressure on Pakistan? That what they'll
have to listen the next day and it won't be
about cricket. So people should be wise enough to know
that you don't take the scale of the game so
high that it becomes very difficult when you think about
(14:18):
the consequences.
Speaker 5 (14:19):
It could be just okay.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
One team that day was better, they won and the
other team didn't do well, so they lost. This is
how sports needs to be seen and this is a
much more saner way of watching sports.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
And next eternal attention to Varanasi. But earlier this week,
the ancestral house of Olympian hockey legend Muhammad Shahid, part
of India's nineteen eighty Olympic gold medal winning team was
partly demolished as part of a road widening project. The
move has triggered sharp political reactions, with the opposition calling
it an insult to a legendary Olympian who in the
(14:57):
past has also been acclauded with a p Mashi and
an Arshina Award. While Shahid's wife says the family received
compensation and has asked for a memorial in his honor,
some of his relatives have opposed the demolition, arguing that
the payout was inadequate. So to understand how a road
project in Waranessy turned into a flashpoint over legacy, we
(15:18):
speak to the Indian expresses more. She said, who begins
by telling us how it all began.
Speaker 6 (15:25):
See, it all started with the video which came in
of when the demolition was taking place. And the video
showed that policeman is standing during the demolition to ensure
that everything went smoothly. There were few people who were
standing in front of them and actually pleading for some
more time to be given and it was the video
kind of claimed that they were family members of Shahid.
(15:45):
So this particular video went viral on social media and
tagging these particular videos. The opposition parties kind of targeted
the government saying that since Shid was the hockey legend
and instead of showing respect to his family, the home
is being demolish. So it actually started from that particular
video or during the demolition that came into limelight from
(16:06):
that day.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
And all she we understand that there are nine co
owners of the house, including Shahad's siblings, So how has
the family reacted to this?
Speaker 6 (16:15):
See that is from where the confusion had started. The
administration claimed that maximum people who are the co owners
or the co residents of the house had taken the compensation.
So when I spoke to his wife Pervens, he said
that Shahid were ten brothers and sisters, so nine were
claimants in this particular house because family of one sister
(16:37):
had given away the claims, so the compensation was to
be divided among all these nine members. So out of
these nine, they were only two brothers who have not
taken the compensation so far as they were demanding more compensation.
Rest all have taken the compensation, including family that his
wife and children of Shahid. And she said that because
(16:59):
the land did not belonged to them. They did not
have the papers and sistral papers for the land, so
it's just the construction which was there. So they were
given to it thirty two lack as the compensation, which
was equally divided among all the brothers and sisters. So
his particular family got chair of about three point five lacs.
So in fact, I was asked that either I should
demolish my portion or it should be left on the
(17:19):
comment to demolish. So she said that I kind of
gave the permission to demolish the structure which was under
our position as well as the other members of the
family excluding these two brothers.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Right, and so how has the government justified the demolition?
See the compensation?
Speaker 6 (17:38):
What the administration is saying, it's being done by PWD
Public Works department. So they were saying that the road
widening project, which is it's about nine point five kilometer
along road which is one of the hearts of the
city Cutcherry area. So in that this road widening project
of nine point three two five kilometers something, so about
nine kilometer has already been and it's just about three
(18:01):
hundred meter which remains. And in that area. These about
about seventy residences. So out of these seventy residences, forty
seven people have already taken the compensation. This was the
case with most of the people said they were occupants
of that area for ages like their sistors were or
had occupied it, but they did not have the proper
document so in some cases there were some issues. So
(18:25):
the compensation was decided unanimously for all these properties and
this particular property.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Was one among them. Even on the day when.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
This particular demolition took place, they were total about twelve
properties that were demolished including them. So the remaining out
of seventy forty seven have been demolished as they have
taken the composition there for the remaining the process is
going on for coordination of the compensation as such.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
And lastly, Mashep, we know that Congress and Asad Samaj
party leaders have condemned the move. So could I talk
about how are the opposition parties framing this incident.
Speaker 6 (19:00):
The opposition is kind of targeted the government saying that
while Congress raised the issue saying that government should give
a proper compensation to the family, opposition is also demanded
that in fact the family should be given proper house.
They've said that instead of taking care of their legends
(19:20):
and their families, government is going on using the bulldozer
on the families, on the houses of these legends. So
opposition has been targeting the government. But as far as
the family is concerned, the wife is concerned in particular.
So wife said that since we have accepted the compensation
and it was under the road widening project and other
houses were also being.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Acquired for that.
Speaker 6 (19:41):
But she said that she has one particular demand from
the government that since his still home is being demolished,
so there should be a memorial built in his name
in surrounding that area, so that the future generation could
remember him and his glory.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
And in the end we talk about Chenne. On Tuesday evening,
tragedies struck at the edge of Chennai's industrial belt at
the construction site of a massive power project in Ennore.
The scaffolding gave way, sending a group of workers plummeting
nearly thirty feet. By the time the chaos cleared, nine
migrant laborers from Assam were dead and at least ten
(20:22):
more were injured. The men had been working on a
concrete arc part of the thirteen hundred and twenty megawat
expansion of the North Chennai Thermal Power Station. It was
a routine day until the steel structure supporting them suddenly collapsed.
Fellow workers rushed to pull the injured out. Ambulances ferried
them to Stanley Government Hospital, but for nine of them
(20:43):
it was fatal. Pamil Nadu's Power Utility has called the
accident an unfortunate incident, but that phrase hardly captures the
scale of loss. A probe is underway. Billie have sealed
the site and structural inspections have been ordered for the
families in Assam, though those in weststigations are small comfort.
As Sam Chief Minister him and the Business Arma confirmed
(21:04):
the victim's identities and said arrangements were being made to
bring their remains back. In his words, the state would
coordinate with Tamil Nadu authorities to ensure they returned to
their families at the earliest Back in Chennai, Chief Minister
m ke Stalin express sorrow, calling the debts a deeply
saddening loss. He announced compensation of ten lak each for
(21:25):
the families of the deceased. Prime Minister arranged remore The
two offered condolences, promising two lack excretia from the PM
Relief Fund for each family and fifty thousand for the
injured at the site itself pull us from the Avadi
Commissionerrate are probing what caused this caffolding to fail. Early
reports suggest possible lapses in safety checks, though details remain unclear.
(21:46):
Workers who survived said the structure looked unstable and some
had raised concerns. You were listening to Three Things by
the Indian Express. Today's show was edited and mixed by
and produced by Shishanghgov and me Ichasharma. If you like
the show, do subscribe to us wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
You can also recommend it to someone you think may
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is the best way for people to get to know
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