Zimbabwe holds a special place in the hearts of most West Indians. Just as West Indians were keenly interested in the struggle for racial equality in South Africa, so were they interested in the struggle for liberation in Zimbabwe. So much so that Jamaican reggae singer Bob Marley sang at the Independence of Zimbabwe in 1980. Then he was celebrating Zimbabwe's independence and the election of Prime Minister Robert Mugabe after Ian Smith's minority rule in then colonial Rhodesia. How prophetic has Marley's words in his song Zimbabwe become:
To divide and rule could only tear us apart;
In everyman chest, there beats a heart.
So soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionaries;
And I don't want my people to be tricked by mercenaries.
Mugabe has retained power in Zimbabwe by use of force and intimidation. He elevated himself to the position of executive President in 1987, abolishing the post of Prime Minister. In doing so he gained additional powers and has used them to win elections in 1990, 1996, and in 2002 amid claims of voter fraud and intimidation. His policies have left Zimbabwe among the poorest of nations in the world, with an annual inflation rate of over 1000%. Millions of people suffer in poverty despite official propaganda to the contrary. His political opponents are beaten and killed. In March of this year opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested while at a political rally and taken to jail, where he was beaten so hard that his skull was fractured.
Mugabe has inserted himself into Zimbabwe's cricket as well, making himself patron of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, while installing administrators that have run the game into the ground in Zimbabwe. They can't even produce reliable match cards for league games in Zimbabwe. The political crisis in Zimbabwe has led to a mass exodus of Zimbabwe's cricketers and a famous protest at the 2003 World Cup. Foreign reporters, such as from Cricinfo, are banned, with the majority of the media covering cricket, like everything else in Zimbabwe, being state-controlled.
It is against this backdrop that the Australian Prime Minister John Howard, refused to allow the Aussie cricket team to tour Zimbabwe. This decision has triggered an avalanche of opinion on the matter. On the one hand, no one wants to be used as propaganda material to prop up Mugabe, on the other, millions of Zimbabwe's youngsters and indeed their young cricket team will most likely miss out on seeing and playing against the best team in the world. The Mugabe administration has resorted to a familiar hand: playing the race card, while the ICC expressed dissatisfaction at the decision. The ICC has been criticised fairly for many things in the past, but its inaction as Zimbabwe's cricket and cricket administration slips into the abyss must be simultaneously its most glaring failure and most glaring evidence of its ineptitude. South Africa has offered to host the Zimbabwe-Australia games, and that would be a welcome turn of events as it is always sad whenever a game that brings enjoyment to its fans cannot be played due to politics.
This decision by the Australian government is reminiscent of the ban imposed on apartheid South Africa. The race dynamics are a little different, but the underlying principle is the same: using sport to make a political stand and hopefully effect change. In apartheid South Africa, there were rebel tours by overseas cricketers in violation of the ban, including a famous tour by a West Indian team. The players who toured were ostracised and some were never selected to represent their countries again. But in hindsight, the sight of a black successful cricket team gave hope to the millions of suffering black South Africans and certainly helped to instill a sense of pride and self worth in the face of the brutal apartheid regime. Could the Australian tour have done a similar thing for young Zimbabweans?
Maybe we will never know, but however this saga ends the real losers have been the people of Zimbabwe, who have had their country's economy destroyed while losing their freedom of the press and freedom of democracy. Would Bob Marley go and sing in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe of today? Who knows? If he did, maybe he would sing Ambush in the night to the Zimbabwe people:
See them fighting for power
But they know not the hour
So they bribing with
Their guns, spare-parts and money
Trying to belittle our integrity
They say what we know
Is just what they teach us
Thru political strategy
They keep us hungry
Bookmark/Search this post with:
- 840 reads
Mon, 14/05/2007 - 5:35am
Great article, you've said everything there is to say
Post new comment