Cricket, as has been often quoted in manuals, is a great leveller. But those manuals have necessarily restricted their scope of discussions to the game itself; here we are faced with a situation where the game is providing a playing field on which we can can judge the merits of the various types of games that our politicians are indulging in. The BJP government, on the one hand, has condemned the act of vandalism and said that it would ensure the security of the players at any cost but is not being seen to be taking any action against those perpetrators of the crime_ and it is nothing but a criminal act_itself. Thefact is that the government is under siege and almost anybody who is a somebody seem to be getting away with murder. Even former Pakistani cricket captain and now politician, Imran Khan, has called for the arrest of Thackeray which, though not pleasant coming as it does from foreign soil, was the logical step that the government should have taken. The only step that the Government seems to have taken is to have cleared the BCCI's tour programme which conveniently keeps out Mumbai, the stronghold of the Sena, from the Pakistani team's tour agenda. If this is tough governance and the sort of decisions expected from an able Prime Minister heading a stable government, then the less said about the fate of the country, the better.

If the tour is finally called off_ as is being discussed in some quarters and not without real reason too_then that would make it to one of the top news stories of the century. The last time cricket had been politicised at the top level was during the Bodyline series between England and Australia. That time, the target was one man, Sir Donald Bradman. Now, we have two countries. The magnitude of the crisis thus cannot be exaggerated.

On the other hand, we have had the good news of a civilian bus route having been opened between Delhi and Lahore last week. A group of 20 travelled the 600-odd kilometres from Delhi to Lahore on an experimental basis and the Sainiks, busy as they are now with cricket, seem to have overlooked the soft target of a bus running across risky terrains to bring good cheer. The Sena has, however, promptly called for the discontinuance of the service immediately and it has been supported by the fundamentalist Jamaat-I-Islami in Pakistan.

Which brings us to a single question which is haunting all right-thinking men in this country now. Should this government be allowed to continue after having been exposed in this fashion? Should Thackeray and his cronies be allowed to play havoc with the country's secularism in the name of national prestige? It is the right and duty of every serious political party anywhere in the world to look after the interests of the electorate to whom it goes periodically with folded hands and, given a bit of stick, bended knees too. Will the country be actually to blame if someone somewhere chooses to raise the banner of revolt and indulge in some sort of sensationalism to highlight the nation's plight? Should the BJP be allowed to continue to drive this country to the edge of desperation?