Harbhajan reignites racism storm

[Cevno]

Anyone watch the thing on the Cricket Show at lunch today? About the racism in Indian crowds? It was ridiculous. This wasn't just one or two people...This was thousands and thousands endorsing these racist chants. There was a sign saying "Why a monkey amongst kangaroos?"...Look at Symo with a straight face and tell him that they are actualling calling him a monkey because of some monkey god with fangs and horns and wings in India. What a ludicrous justification of the name calling...

If you forget about all the history of abuse then from a pure physical point of view if you could compare symonds to a animal it would be a "chimapnzee" like a "squirrel" with sachin or "giraffe" with mcgrath.
Anyway i am pretty sure like the aussie print press today that was reported over the top too as ravi shastri and wasim akram mentioned today.
It is funny how west indies,srilanka,england,newzealand and even pakistan (after wars)never complained about racism anytime in delhi but symonds did and then it spread arround to other grounds as it leaked to media.
If like monty he and the whole mgmt had chose to ignore the first incident of few it would not have grown and understood it was not meant to be racist hust fun of his physical looks(the first incident).

 

[Captain Cricket]

But did not mcgrath know before making ***ual comments about sarwan and lara that he would be offended?and what about other abuses aussies have dished out over the years, did they think opposition enjoyed it?

Mate, what McGrath and Lehmann and Waugh did all those years have absolutely NOTHING to do with Symonds or anyone else for that matter. I think it's pathetic how you're implying Symonds must take responsibility for past actions from past players.

Symonds is a human being. He has never expressed his racial views to anyone, and as a matter of fact I'm sure he would be a wonderful character off-field as well.Leave him alone and stop making threads questioning his place in the Australian team. There is no way past comments were his fault.

And him playing for Australia doesn't mean he's representing those past idiots and their comments, he's representing his cricket skills, his personal character and his nation.

 

[Evermind]

It might lower the tone somewhat, but surely it's a wee bit ironic that Symonds is the alleged target of the "monkey" name-calling when the Australian captain himself has rather more obvious simian qualities....

00:23 - 00:29

I think the ironic element is a lot more exact than what you suggested.

 

[Cevno]

Mate, what McGrath and Lehmann and Waugh did all those years have absolutely NOTHING to do with Symonds or anyone else for that matter. I think it's pathetic how you're implying Symonds must take responsibility for past actions from past players.

Symonds is a human being. He has never expressed his racial views to anyone, and as a matter of fact I'm sure he would be a wonderful character off-field as well.Leave him alone and stop making threads questioning his place in the Australian team. There is no way past comments were his fault.

And him playing for Australia doesn't mean he's representing those past idiots and their comments, he's representing his cricket skills, his personal character and his nation.

I have never made theads about him doubting his place in the team.so i do not know this allegation comes up?
since you seem to agree that others were wrong ,guess we move on to symonds.
I am not doubting his personal beliefs at all but his comments and action in the previous series has been not gentlemen like also and he has made aggresive comments about teams and players too.He has been invoved in team strategy to say things about people to unsettle them.
I do not know him off field so i would not comment on that.

 

[BoyBrumby]

If you forget about all the history of abuse then from a pure physical point of view if you could compare symonds to a animal it would be a "chimapnzee" like a "squirrel" with sachin or "giraffe" with mcgrath.

Unfortunately cricket doesn't exist in a vacuum tho. Calling a black person (or someone with black antecendents) a "monkey" carries several hundred years of racist baggage with it.

A charitable view might be that anyone using such an epiphet was ignorant of this, but since Harbhajan has denied it it's just idle speculation as of now.

 

[Cevno]

Unfortunately cricket doesn't exist in a vaccum tho. Calling a black person (or someone with black antecendents) a "monkey" carries several hundred years of racist baggage with it.

A charitable view might be that anyone using such an epiphet was ignorant of this, but since Harbhajan has denied it it's just idle speculaltion as of now.

Agree with that but i am idle at this moment.

 

[bond21]

did anyone see it or are you just reading about it?

Harbhajan called out to symonds and said something to him, then ponting, gilchrist and hayden went over and basically started talking to harbhajan while tendulkar was trying to calm the fool down.

Benson then talked to him by covering his mouth so noone could lip read, how often does an umpire do that? Would he cover his mouth if hes asking harbhajan if he wants a sandwich at tea?

Ponting reported him, the 2 umpires reported him, and its harbhajan who is a bit wacko.

If Tendulkar did it, which he wouldnt because Harbhajan isnt fit to pack Tendulkar's lunch, noone would care as much because he isnt known of being racist.

Harbhajan was one of the culprits in india abusing symonds along with sreesanth who is probably being kept in india for safety reasons...

 

[Captain Cricket]

I have never made theads about him doubting his place in the team.so i do not know this allegation comes up?
since you seem to agree that others were wrong ,guess we move on to symonds.
I am not doubting his personal beliefs at all but his comments and action in the previous series has been not gentlemen like also and he has made aggresive comments about teams and players too.He has been invoved in team strategy to say things about people to unsettle them.
I do not know him off field so i would not comment on that.

Yeah didn't refer to you making that thread about his test spot, was talking to everyone in general. And anyway saying things to "unsettle people" is called sledging and thats ok if it is not taken too far.

 

[duffer]

Harbhajan was one of the culprits in india abusing symonds along with sreesanth who is probably being kept in india for safety reasons...

We missed out big time with Sree staying at home. The hilarity that'd follow would've been legendary.

His antics may be a bit Nel-like at times but he isn't fool enough to go racial like Bhajj alledgedly did.

 

[MantraMagic]

From what I have heard, Harbhajan didnt call Symonds a monkey but said in Hindi "teri maan ki" which translates to "your mother's..." in English. Maan ki (where ki is literally pronounced as "Key") sounds pretty much like a slightly elongated version of "monkey" and Symonds may have misunderstood.

 

[social]

Seems the Australians are pissed because it's not the first time

http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/...sies-gibe-claim/2008/01/05/1198950127678.html

 

[Pratters]

Anyone watch the thing on the Cricket Show at lunch today? About the racism in Indian crowds? It was ridiculous. This wasn't just one or two people...This was thousands and thousands endorsing these racist chants. There was a sign saying "Why a monkey amongst kangaroos?"...

A fair few Aussies who was the Cricket Show today have commented that thousands of people in the Mumbai crowd were racist and it was not just a couple of idiots. If that is indeed true, Mumbai should be banned as an international venue for at least a short period. Pathetic.

Look at Symo with a straight face and tell him that they are actualling calling him a monkey because of some monkey god with fangs and horns and wings in India. What a ludicrous justification of the name calling...

Hanuman is a god whom a lot of hindus respect A LOT. It is very poor of you to start crapping up on Hanuman regardless of what your belief regarding gods and religion might be. I don't think we support such stuff. It is ridiculous for a member to refer to Jesus, Allah, Hanuman, Mary, Ram in such a manner.

 

[Migara]

Something was said.
Ponting nor Symonds would just make this stuff up

Can't it be other way round?

 

[jeevan]

Anyone watch the thing on the Cricket Show at lunch today? About the racism in Indian crowds? It was ridiculous. This wasn't just one or two people...This was thousands and thousands endorsing these racist chants. There was a sign saying "Why a monkey amongst kangaroos?"...Look at Symo with a straight face and tell him that they are actualling calling him a monkey because of some monkey god with fangs and horns and wings in India. What a ludicrous justification of the name calling...

Very sensitive of you, sir. Us semi-literate jerks should take lessons from you on how to not be insulting towards other cultures and races.

I personally hope this issue escalates to an extent that ALL sledging is clamped down on and put away from this game.

 

[ozone]

I personally hope this issue escalates to an extent that ALL sledging is clamped down on and put away from this game.

TBH, I think removing all sledging from the game would be removing an element which provides a lot of fun in the game. However, racist sledges and anything else that is of a more personal nature is out of order and should be clamped down on. It should stop at that though because sledging (in some circumstances) provides some of the funniest moments in cricket.

 

[Isura]

Something was said.
Ponting nor Symonds would just make this stuff up

India is less effective with 1 spinner for the last 2 tests

 

[Richard]

From what I have heard, Harbhajan didnt call Symonds a monkey but said in Hindi "teri maan ki" which translates to "your mother's..." in English. Maan ki (where ki is literally pronounced as "Key") sounds pretty much like a slightly elongated version of "monkey" and Symonds may have misunderstood.

Let's hope so.

Not exactly the nicest thing to say at the best of times of course, but it'd obviously be better than the alleged.

Look, there may be some form of monkey-figure Hindu god, I know next to nothing about the religion, but I really don't think anyone can bring that up as a defence, if Harbhajan were to have called Symonds "a monkey". As has been pointed-out, the connotations of such a thing are unavoidable and even if Harbhajan was attempting to mean something relating to some Hindu god, it'd still be an inexcusable thing for him to say.

If the above post is right, though, as I say - hopefully he never said such a thing at all.

 

[Richard]

India is less effective with 1 spinner for the last 2 tests

Well aside from the fact I don't see spin playing much of a part at The WACA, no, sorry, no-one would make-up stuff attempting to get players banned. People push the rules, inevitably so, but that'd be far more than pushing the rules of the game, it'd be pushing (and crossing) the bounds of morality and decency.

There'd have to be damn good evidence for me to even consider accusing anyone of that.

 

[archie mac]

Let's hope so.

Not exactly the nicest thing to say at the best of times of course, but it'd obviously be better than the alleged.

Look, there may be some form of monkey-figure Hindu god, I know next to nothing about the religion, but I really don't think anyone can bring that up as a defence, if Harbhajan were to have called Symonds "a monkey". As has been pointed-out, the connotations of such a thing are unavoidable and even if Harbhajan was attempting to mean something relating to some Hindu god, it'd still be an inexcusable thing for him to say.

If the above post is right, though, as I say - hopefully he never said such a thing at all.

I much rather some one call me a 'White C' then say anything bad about my mother

 

[Pratters]

Look, there may be some form of monkey-figure Hindu god, I know next to nothing about the religion, but I really don't think anyone can bring that up as a defence, if Harbhajan were to have called Symonds "a monkey". As has been pointed-out, the connotations of such a thing are unavoidable and even if Harbhajan was attempting to mean something relating to some Hindu god, it'd still be an inexcusable thing for him to say.

Bhogle mentioned it to point out how the cultures of both nations are so different. We have a monkey god in India whom people respect while it is racist to call a Symonds monkey. He was not defending calling Symonds a monkey and he did say that if Harbhajan said it, it is a serious offence.