Can honors be inhuman? My answer is yes, after seeing what Nepali cricket players went through on Wednesday.
This might sound harsh, but Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) is a body that doesn’t think of consequences of any action thus they fail to think beyond the day.
The drama and mismanagement with the team on Wednesday in the name of honoring their achievement was simply a behavior that couldn’t be called human in nature.
If you think I’m accusing, take this example: The World Cricket League Division 3 winning team returned home on Wednesday. They played six hard-fought matches in eight days before taking a flight back; they travelled more than a couple of days in economy class (if you have been to long flight, you know how much you can sleep on those seats) – and the first thing they needed was a long rest – both mental and physical.
Well, CAN had no idea about it. They welcomed them long at the Kathmandu Airport; made them part of a victory rally around the city in a most uncomfortable vehicle you could ever get (a TATA mini truck with no seats); then made them attend three ‘honor’ programs – first at National Sports Council where the sports minister and NSC member-secretary told them, in long speeches, how proud they were of cricketers’ achievements.
Then, chairman of the council of ministers met them at his office to congratulate them (with a speech) and then a political party (UCPN-Maoist) honored them and took photos with the players standing behind them while they were seated.
All those events took 8 hours – the duration, which the players were neither offered good food nor allowed to meet their family. Rather they were forced to sit yawning while there were speeches by people who probably didn’t have any relationship with cricket in the past.
I termed it ‘lacking simple human feeling’ in a radio interview and former captain Binod Das who was also on the show said a very touching sentence: “You know how hard it was because you have spent time in cricket and you are proud of what you have done for cricket, but people who have nothing to do with cricket do not understand this.”
That was harsh thing to do to the players – the heroes of the nation. And, my humble request to the CAN, please do not do it again!