Selective Outrage, Sporting Rules, and the Question of Fairness

 

Selective Outrage, Sporting Rules, and the Question of Fairness

Hindi Version: https://rakeshinsightfulgaze.blogspot.com/2026/01/blog-post_5.html

What we are witnessing today is not outrage driven by facts, but outrage curated by incompetence, prejudice, and political convenience. The controversy surrounding the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and a player selected through the Indian Premier League (Indian Premier League) auction process exposes something far more serious than a disagreement over sport. It exposes how mediocrity in leadership, ignorance of rules, and weaponised faith have replaced reason, excellence, and institutional integrity.

The rules are unambiguous. If the BCCI places a player in the official auction pool, every franchise has the legal right to bid for that player. The Kolkata Knight Riders (Kolkata Knight Riders) followed the process exactly as designed. There was no discretionary shortcut, no exception, and no behind-the-scenes manipulation. Yet instead of interrogating the rule-makers, the outrage targeted ownership identity, specifically Shah Rukh Khan, as though religion somehow overrides written law. This is not criticism. It is scapegoating.

What makes this collapse more dangerous is that many of the people currently running cricket’s most powerful institutions, including the BCCI and the International Cricket Council (International Cricket Council), have little or no professional training in cricket administration, governance, or sport management. These were once bodies led by administrators who understood the game, respected process, and protected institutions from political capture. Today, they are run by career politicians and loyalists whose primary qualification is proximity to power. Excellence has been replaced by obedience, and cricket is paying the price.

India’s public memory has also been carefully edited. Two Prime Ministers were assassinated by terrorists. One was killed by a Sikh extremist, the other by Hindu extremists. These are historical facts, not opinions. And yet, despite this reality, an entire religious community has been conveniently branded as suspect. For over a decade, Punjab was torn apart by violent religious extremism that had nothing to do with Islam, yet Indian Muslims continue to be asked to prove their loyalty as though citizenship itself is conditional. This is not national security. It is collective punishment dressed up as patriotism.

Contrast this with the caliber of leadership and intellect India once celebrated. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam rose from modest means to become the architect of India’s missile and nuclear programs, helping secure the country’s strategic independence. Scientists, engineers, doctors, entrepreneurs, and artists from every faith built institutions, industries, and credibility for India on the global stage. That era valued competence over conformity. Today, loyalty to ideology has replaced merit as the primary qualification for authority.

The rot extends beyond sport into governance itself. Business relationships with neighbouring countries are selectively moralised. Diplomatic shelter is framed as treachery only when it suits a narrative. India sheltered Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during political turmoil, yet no one accused the government of aiding terrorism. Corporate houses trade power, resources, and capital across borders without being branded disloyal. But let a Muslim public figure succeed, build a franchise, or compete with entrenched business dynasties, and suddenly suspicion becomes fashionable.

Political leadership has also mastered selective history. The Mughal period is routinely vilified, yet Mughal-era architecture remains the backbone of India’s tourism economy, admired globally and monetised without hesitation. These structures were built with skill, vision, and durability that still command respect centuries later. Compare that with modern showpiece projects such as the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya (Ram Mandir) or the Statue of Unity (Statue of Unity), which have faced questions over cost overruns, maintenance failures, and structural issues within years. This is not an attack on faith. It is a comparison of governance standards.

What is truly corrosive is how the government feeds simplified religious narratives to cover institutional decay. Faith is used as a distraction while incompetence entrenches itself in sports bodies, universities, regulatory agencies, and public institutions. The public is encouraged to argue over identity while standards quietly collapse. This is not accidental. A population divided by suspicion is easier to govern than one united by reason.

The question, then, is not who to blame, but who benefits. When logic is replaced by loyalty, when rules are ignored in favor of outrage, and when excellence is treated as a threat rather than a goal, the damage is national. India was once defined by its ability to argue, question, and think deeply. That intellectual courage built civilizations, sciences, and institutions.

If we still claim descent from a land of Vedic inquiry and rational thought, then it is time to stop outsourcing our thinking to propaganda and start applying the same standards to everyone. The real test of patriotism is not who you attack, but whether you are willing to defend truth even when it is inconvenient.