Sports and Politics: Aussie Cricket Team Threatened By Terrorists and Shiv Sena For India Premier League

What's been happening to Indians in Australia is atrocious, targeting someone because they are of a different ethnicity is unforgivable, but sadly this happens in every country. Unfortunately, there are still racists everywhere, and fear of people who are different amongst ignorant people can often turn to violence. But this does not mean that every person in that country is racist. I'd like to believe that most people are not, and that those who are, are few. So, blaming the whole country for the vile actions of a few is just not right, and this is what's happening with Australia right now. The Indian Premier League cricket tournament (IPL) in Mumbai is coming up and the far-right militant political group Shiv Sena's head Bal Thackeray threatened Australian players not to come saying "We shall not allow them to play here."

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As if the Aussie government has any control over racist renegades, or the Australian cricketers themselves were guilty of attacking Indians in Australia. And although officials with the Indian government and the International Cricket Council (ICC) tried to reason with Thackeray, the threat remains.

But not only do the Aussie cricketers have the Shiv Sena threat leveled against them, they now have been threatened by an al-Qaeda linked extremist group, as well, for not only the IPL games, but the 2010 World Hockey Cup and the Commonwealth Games. Of course, this time they're not the only ones being threatened.

International athletes should not travel to India to compete in the Indian Premier League cricket tournament, the hockey World Cup or the Commonwealth Games, Ilyas Kashmiri was quoted as saying by the Hong Kong-based Asia Times website.

Kashmiri sent the warning by email, Asia Times reported.

"We warn the international community not to send their people to the 2010 Hockey World Cup, IPL and Commonwealth Games," the Asia Times quoted Kashmiri as saying.

"Nor should their people visit India. If they do, they will be responsible for the consequences."

Kashmiri is the leader of a group called 313 Brigade, reportedly an operational arm of al-Qaeda linked to a number of terror attacks including the attacks on Mumbai last year and bombings in Islamabad.

Unlike Shiv Sena's reasoning for wanting the Australian's banned from the IPLs, the 313 Brigade's reasons were not specified. Although the threat is troubling, since the escalation of terrorist violence in India recently, the Aussie team has no plans to stay away.

It truly is pathetic that people continue to politicize sports, when all athletes want is to compete, and all spectators want is to experience the thrill of a good game.