Dr. Arshed Iqbal Dar
When a person sets his foot in the world of betting then one thing is sure and that is, an agreement is set between two parties, the one who will hit the nail on the head and made a correct prediction is bound to wear the trousers and will make a buck and the other party who fails to hit and made an incorrect prediction is bound to go into liquidation which kicks him in the sea of depression and ultimately he becomes the king of crime.
It has been reported and is mentioned in many authenticated journals that betting is not a novel concept in games but is practised in many countries. If we talk about the people of India and their interest in betting, they have not maintained any physical distancing from the punters and the bookies rather they are at the front foot to play this game of betting from a prolonged period of time. Generally, cricket is the game of talented cum skilled cricket players and before the dissemination of this betting cricket, we were considering this game as the game of gentleman but the introduction of punters and bookies in this game have completely deteriorated the essence of gentleman’s game. A couple of days ago, I was watching a cricket match and I observed both the teams were balanced and the players in each team were not from a specific village, town or a city but from different districts of Kashmir division and after the first innings, it has come to my attention that punters have signed an agreement of two lakh fifty thousand rupees. I observed and learned that a gentleman’s game in our Kashmir valley is mutating to the game of punters and bookies. With the introduction of this betting match, the existence of village teams, towns’ teams or city teams is at the apogee of extinction. With the introduction of agents of betting in the cricket, the talk of the town is agent A and agent B have signed an agreement of 100K, 200K, and 300K etc in the XYZ ground amongst the talented players of the valley. A lot of reports related to cricket betting in different districts of kashmir division are making the rounds on social networking sites that someone has sold the jewelry of his wife, someone has sold the cow, someone has sold the goat, someone has sold his mobile phone and even some people have fallen in the debt trap just because of this cricket betting. It is very much unfortunate that this human created ill is beating at an alarming rate not only among the invisible agents of betting but also among few talented cricketers of our valley. Writers and journalists have raised the alarm against this human created ill but the appetite of the agents of destruction have kicked the heart and soul of their intelligence in such a manner that it seems they are completely intoxicated and trapped in the net of betting. Not only this, these intoxicated agents have translated the cricket grounds into betting grounds, eleven stars into unknown stars or we can say they are in the process of mutating the gentleman’s into punters. With the advancement in information technology, people are following the mantra of skilled agents of betting and without disclosing their identity they are invisibly participating in this betting agreement and they are behaving like the covid-patients who are hidding their travel history and are elongating this invisible chain of viral catastrophe.
Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association in collaboration with registered Cricket Clubs of Kashmir Division in particular should trace the betting grounds, identify the internal cum external agents of betting and take strong action against those big players who are involved in this human created ill and restore the game of gentleman for a healthy and a peaceful life.
In this context, the punters, the bookies and the so called big players of cricket of our kashmir valley who are involved directly or indirectly in this betting game mark my words that if they continue their participation in this betting game, the day is at close quarters when you drink and sing a song- MUJHE PEENE KA SHAUK NAHE, PEETA HOON GHAM BHULANE KO (I have no interest in drinking, I simply drink to forget my sorrows). In drawing things to a close, Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association in collaboration with registered Cricket Clubs of Kashmir Division in particular should trace the betting grounds, identify the internal cum external agents of betting and take strong action against those big players who are involved in this human created ill and restore the game of gentleman for a healthy and a peaceful life.
(The author is an Assistant Professor, Govt. Degree College Sumbal Sonawari. Views are his own) [email protected]
