The Narendra Modi regime’s thirst for the first has now pulled in the Indian Air Force (IAF) to execute a choreographed air show as lead-in act to the cricket World Cup final between India and Australia in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the clash in the company of Union home minister Amit Shah and his son Jay Shah, who is also secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Australian deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles will also likely be in the VVIP stands.
As the IAF’s specialised Suryakiran aerobatic squad rehearsed in the skies above and around the Narendra Modi Stadium at Motera, some social media users raised a pertinent question: who is footing the bill? The Cricket World Cup is, after all, an International Cricket Council (ICC) event and the hosts BCCI are a private society, nothing official about them.
“Although such a flyover is taking place for the first time in India before a sporting event, it is a regular feature in the US for the Super Bowl and Formula One racing,” is all that an official from the IAF spokesperson’s office told The Telegraph.
He declined to comment when asked who will foot the bill for the “never before” 10-minute aerobatic extravaganza to be performed by the specialised Suryakiran squad’s nine Hawk MK 132 aircraft of British make.
In the US, military flyovers of the kind that will be showcased at Ahmedabad have been a routine feature before the Super Bowl, the annual finale of the National Football League tourney.
Military experts have also held that such exercises serve as tests for navigational accuracy; this argument hasn’t been put forward by the IAF for the Sunday event.
Air Vice-Marshal (retd) Kapil Kak said the IAF jets being called upon to enact an air show before the Cricket World Cup final was “unusual”. Speaking to The Telegraph, Air Vice-Marshal Kak said: “I have a very nuanced view on this. Cricket and Bollywood drive the minds of Indians, seemingly fitting with the current political dispensation’s narrative that India is rising”.
He added, pointedly: “I am not critical of this air show as it is planned to showcase India’s military capability before the world…. What is worrisome is the politicisation of the armed forces in India which we have witnessed over the past few years in the pursuit to promote a certain political dispensation.”
Kak said: “This air show may politically benefit indirectly at a time when some states are in the midst of Assembly polls and also (during) the forthcoming Lok Sabha election.”
A former lieutenant general of the Indian Army, who did not wish to be named, said he did not find anything wrong with the air show. “World Cup cricket is a worldwide event. This air show is customary. The Indian military is also part of the sports setup,” he said.
He, however, said it would have been better if the BCCI had directly requested the IAF to organise the air event. “After all, BCCI secretary Jay Shah is the son of the powerful Union home minister Amit Shah,” he cheekily added.
The IAF’s Suryakiran aerobatic team, which will continue rehearsing around the Motera arena on Saturday, has showcased its skills in various air shows throughout the country. The team is recognised for its distinctive air displays, featuring loop manoeuvres in victory formation, barrel manoeuvres, and the creation of various shapes in the sky.
