A little less glow due to politicisation
History and politics are so much ingrained into each other in this part of the world that a manifestation of heritage and culture usually involves a projection of the political history of the country. So, it was a moment of great pride for any Bangladeshi to witness the rich political history of the nation and the endeavour of its people to gain independence being portrayed so prominently in the opening ceremony of the ICC Cricket World Cup at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Thursday.
When the language movement, the famous speech of 7th March by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the War of Independence were showcased, every Bangladeshi citizen wherever he was, felt a stirring of enormous pride.
But it must be said that in their rendition of the history, the organisers at times seemed a little overzealous in their ideas, for example when the marchers in the procession of the language movement put on some conspicuous black coats to distort history a little bit.
The overwhelming feeling amongst the spectators was that the opening ceremony was a grand spectacle which however lost some of its lustre and became almost embarrassing at times due to the hardly covert political undertones of some of the speeches delivered by the speakers.
The BCB president, AHM Mostafa Kamal and the state minister for youth and sports, Ahad Ali Sarker for instance seemed oblivious to the fact that it was a platform to champion the causes of a global event and Bangladesh cricket rather than a speech that was being made to a political rally. Their speech, although less than five minutes in length, seemed much longer due to the somewhat cringe worthy choice of phrases. In the stands, almost everyone looked a little embarrassed. But perhaps that is a risk you run when political entities hold positions in such internationally involved sports bodies.
However, not all blame should be dumped on the politicians. The legendary Runa Laila's choice of song raised a number of eyebrows around the stadium. In this age of political correctness, her decision to sing her hit number 'Dama dam mast Kalandar', especially in the month of February was perhaps not a universally popular choice, although rumour has it, it was enforced on her by the organizers. But in their defence it might also be said, that this is a World Cup for the sub-continent, and her song is best representative of a unified region, due to its popularity across the borders.
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