Foreign Minister-level talks with Pakistan ended in 2016, after the Uri attacks. Since Operation Sindoor, contact between the two nations on nearly all fronts has ended. The Kartarpur Corridor is closed and the Home Ministry had banned jathas to Nankana Sahib as well. Practically, the only area where Indian representatives are still talking to Pakistan is cricket; where Rajeev Shukla and Ashish Shelar, representing the BCCI, are negotiating with Asian Cricket Cup president Mohsin Naqvi, Pakistan’s Interior Minister, to return the ACC cup.
The latter has locked up the trophy in his Dubai office and insists he will only hand it over personally to a member of the winning team in the presence of one BCCI representative. Naqvi is believed to be backed by his government and, more importantly, the all-powerful Field Marshal Asim Munir. If Naqvi does not relent by October end, the BCCI will take up the issue at the next meeting of the International Cricket Council, headed by Jay Shah. India hopes to isolate Pakistan at the forum, but Pakistan has secured at least one vote, Bangladesh.
Many see parallels between Naqvi’s spoilsport conduct and the old cricket adage “uska bat, ball”. This phrase is common among youngsters playing ad hoc cricket in maidans, where one entitled player produces the cricketing gear and expects to call the shots or else he pulls out his stumps and confiscates the bat and ball. In Naqvi’s case, however, the trophy belongs to the ACC and not to him personally.
Trust Factor
Mehli Mistry, ousted from the Tata Trusts last Tuesday, can be a fierce and unrelenting foe. The late Cyrus Mistry believed that Mehli, though his first cousin on his mother’s side and second cousin from the paternal line, had deliberately turned Ratan Tata, Mehli’s close friend, against him because he ended Mehli’s lucrative barging contract with Tata Power. However, Mehli appears to have patched up with his cousins. A year after Ratan Tata’s death, Mehli is now on the same side as two other Parsi trustees, leading lawyer Darius Khambata, and philanthropist and baronet Jehangir H C Jehangir, in demanding that Tata Sons be listed. This move would rescue the debt-burdened Shapoorji Pallonji group, which owns 18.4% shares in Tata Sons and is keen to monetise its stake.
But listing of Tatas Sons, which controls the vast Tata empire, would leave the group open to a takeover. Cyrus had, in his lifetime, expressed fears that powerful business interests had an eye on the once Parsi-dominated group and feared it could fall into the wrong hands. Actually, it is not so much the feuding trustees as the government, which could take the final call on the Tatas’ future. The trust’s control over Tata Sons is vulnerable on two counts. The Companies Act mandates the government appoint a public trustee to act on behalf of private trusts, though a special exception has been made so far for the Tatas. Additionally, the RBI regulatory guidelines had directed that Tata Sons as a NBFC (Non Banking Financial Company) should list on the market by September this year.
Spirited Response
Celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of prestigious Mayo College, a public boarding school in Rajasthan, began with a slight hiccup after an alumnus objected to the organisers’ proposing to release a limited-edition Indian-made single malt whisky to commemorate the occasion. He wrote to many former students, pointing out that the liquor promoter’s family included 1993 alumnus Manu Sharma, who was convicted of the murder of Jessica Lal, shot in cold blood at a bar counter for not serving him liquor after-hours. The angry letter writer, a cousin of the victim, felt that there should be no association between the whisky brand with Mayo College as it would amount to a negation of the high-standards of morality taught by the school. Following the spate of protesting e-mails on the alumni WhatsApp group, the school principal clarified that the commemoratory whisky bottles were being withdrawn.
Pinpointing Blame
In the wake of criticism over the lack of security and surveillance in the Baisaran meadow, where 26 people were killed earlier this year by terrorists, several media reports suggested that tourist guides had accessed Pahalgam’s scenic meadow without formal permission. In an interview with journalist Harinder Baweja, in her recently released book, They Will Shoot Your Madam, J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah set the record straight. After studying the file, Abdullah informed Baweja that last year, Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha issued a tender for the Baisaran meadow for three years and made it a ticketed destination. The contract was awarded to a South Kashmir businessman, who paid Rs 1 crore for ticketing rights. The meadow was open for 8-9 months and yet, not a single person in uniform was posted anywhere nearby. It is still not clear whether those responsible for leaving the known tourist site unguarded have been pulled up for complacency and carelessness.
