On Monday, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch slammed IPL governing body for not doing away with Chinese sponsors for the Indian Premier League.
Dr Ashwani Mahajan, National Co-Convener slammed the IPL council for showing ‘disrespect to martyred soldiers’.
He said: “Swadeshi Jagran Manch is surprised to know that Indian Premier League, which organises T20 cricket matches, has decided to hold IPL with the sponsorship of a Chinese mobile company. With this IPL governing Council has shown its utter disrespect to the soldiers martyred by most heinous act of Chinese."
It added: "At this time, when the nation is striving hard to make our economy free from Chinese dominance in the markets, government making all efforts to keep Chinese out of our markets, keep Chinese investments out and Chinese companies bidding or winning tenders in infrastructure and telecom; this act of IPL is not only an aberration to the nation’s mood, it shows utter disrespect to the country’s security and economic concerns.”
He warned that if the IPL organisers didn’t re-think their decision, it would ‘give a call to patriotic citizens to boycott IPL’, because nothing was ‘above nation’s security and dignity’.
The Indian Premier League's Governing Council on Sunday decided to retain all its sponsors, including Chinese mobile company VIVO. The Chinese sponsorship became a bone of contention after the violent clashes in eastern Ladakh in June. The BCCI was expected to relook at the matter in view of the change in the dynamics of the relations between the two countries.
"All I can say is that all our sponsors are with us. Hopefully you can read between the lines," an IPL GC member told PTI on condition of anonymity after Sunday's meeting.
As IPL title sponsor, VIVO will pay around Rs 440 crore per year, a five-year deal that ends in 2022. It would have been difficult for the Board to get new sponsors at a short notice, given the current financially difficult environment.
