Raliway Budget 99 Not quite on tracks Not Cricket And Bengal govts institutes an inquiry

The West Bengal government has rightly set up a one-man commission to go into the fall from grace at Eden Gardens during the recently held Test match in Calcutta. Much has already been written about the fiasco but now the commission comprising the state home secretary, Sourin Roy, will be able to provide the details of what actually transpired and who are to blame. The state information and police minister, Buddhadev Bhattacharya, has said that there was nothing communal about the fracas and that it was only a segment of the spectators who had created the trouble. He said that police force had been alert and did not fail to mention that this was the same police force which had successfully supervised the funeral function of Mother Teresa which was an international event. However, Bhattacharya said that he had not expected the crowd in Calcutta to behave the way it did and that this incident was indeed a slap on the face of the genuine cricket-loving people of Bengal.

The minister said that the police had played an exemplary role in emptying the galleries and that in the process, not one single person had been hospitalised or given serious medical treatment since they were not necessary. He added that the probe would look into the role of the CAB and the other agencies involved in the matter and that even some Pakistani players who gesticulated at the crowd were not above board. ``But there is nothing communal about the matter as is being stated by some sections. This was the outcome of disappointment and nothing more should be read into it. The probe report will be out in three months and then the truth will be out,'' Bhattacharya said.