Mr Bedi had written a letter on Wednesday in protest of the planned statue of Arun Jaitley in stadium premises, over which he also quit the membership of DDCA.
Days after he wrote a scathing letter to Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), demanding the removal of his name from a stand in Kotla stadium, legendary spinner Bishan Singh Bedi has now threatened to take legal action against the DDCA if his name is not removed from a spectators’ stand at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground with immediate effect. Mr Bedi had written a letter on Wednesday in protest of the planned statue of Arun Jaitley in stadium premises, over which he also quit the membership of DDCA.
After he did not receive any response from the DDCA, Mr Bedi wrote another letter to the cricket body on Saturday. “It’s been a few days since I wrote to you … While within minutes of my letter going public I had the overwhelming support of the cricket fraternity across the globe. But I’m sad there’s been no reaction from you,” he said in his letter addressed to DDCA President Rohan Jaitley.
“… I hope in our country people still have a right to decide as individuals what they wish to be associated with & where their nameplates can hang with dignity. Please don’t push me to take legal recourse.”
“Your seemingly ill-advised silence to my letter that has triggered a public debate about perpetuating politicians at sporting venues exposes your naivety,” the retired cricketer said.
“Your inexplicable silence also underlines guilt of occupying a position of power solely because of your family name, which, you obviously wish to promote, come what may.”
“Finally, I hope you will have the basic courtesy to reply to a former cricketer who is not asking for a favour, but wants his cricketing integrity not to be bartered away.”
“I’ve been around long to know DDCA has a tradition of ignoring cricketers’ voice, hence this reminder. There’s a reason for my urgent request,” the 74-year-old said.
“… Not for a day or even a minute would I feel better to be part of a cricket stadium which has a statue of a person, who I strongly believe, brought down cricketing values in the Capital hugely to say the least.
“No, I don’t wish a stand in my name when late Arun Jaitley’s statue is erected without any visible shame,” Mr Bedi added.
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