"Cricket: Nationalism and Commercialization"

“Cricket: Nationalism and Commercialization”

Philosophical society of Dev Samaj College For Women organized a students seminar on the topic “Cricket: Nationalism And Commercialization” in which Kanwaljeet Kaur of M.A.Ist Year, Aarti of P.G.D.C.A., Preeti of B.C.A.II nd year, Ramanpreet and Kamaljeet of B.A. Ist year discussed the role of sports in fostering the nationalism in the country and how especially cricket with its popularity in the Indian masses continues to strengthen the nationalism in the country.
In the first half of the seminar Kanwaljeet and Aarti raised their concern regarding the huge investment by the multi nationals and films stars in the cricket. They said the auction of the players in the different clubs will going to affect the feeling of the nationalism associated with the game. They said that cricket is a popular game in the country and the MNC for their hidden interests should not exploit the sentiments of the cricket lovers in the country.
They suggested the MNC and film stars not to spend huge money on individual cricket players, rather, the money should be invested in schools and colleges so that a good infrastructure should be set up to nourish budding players in different sports.
In the second part of the discussion Preeti, Kanwaljeet and Ramanpreet criticized the treatment being given to the Hockey players in comparison to the cricketers in the country. They said that hockey despite being the national game of the country fails to attract the attention of the electronic as well as print media. Even the state governments fail to felicitate the hockey players in comparison to the cricketers. Aarti quoting the example said that in 2007 India won the T-20 Cricket World Cup and also the Hockey Asia Cup but the treatment given to the players of both the teams were different. She suggested the government and the media to take appropriate measures to ensure equal treatment and felicitation to the players of the National game and the cricket. Principal Dr. Madhu Prashar praised the initiative taken by the Philosophy Department in organizing the seminar. The seminar was attended by more than three hundred students which was chaired by Ms Amandeep of B.A.III year. Among others who also addressed the participants were Ambuj Sharma of Philosophy Department and Kuldeep singh of Punjabi Department.