Making Shakib, Mashrafe MPs caused 'immense damage' to sports arena: state minister

It is the responsibility of the state and the government to allow sports and culture to grow organically at their own pace, he says

State Minister for Cultural Affairs Ali Newaz Mahmood Khyom has criticised the practice of pulling sports and cultural figures into partisan politics, saying making cricketers Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza members of parliament (MPs) caused "immense damage" to the sports arena.

"Shakib was playing, Mashrafe was playing. When the [former] prime minister patted them on the back and told them to run for parliament, they lost their senses and jumped into the election. What followed has caused tremendous harm to our sports world," he said on Monday.

The state minister was speaking at a publication ceremony at the Shamsur Rahman Seminar Room of the Bangla Academy.

Condemning the politicisation of culture, Khyom asserted that iconic figures like Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam do not belong to any political party.

"They must be allowed to flourish independently. That is what keeps their legacy alive," he said.

Khyom also pointed to the political involvements of actor Asaduzzaman Noor and folk singer Momtaz Begum to illustrate his point.

"A person like Asaduzzaman Noor is a highly talented theatre artist. He had developed into a cultural leader, but today he has to languish in jail," Khyom said.

"Similarly, when a folk singer like Momtaz was picked up, patted on the back, and turned into an MP, she lost all sense of what to say or do," he added.

The state minister emphasised that it is the responsibility of the state and the government to allow sports and culture to grow organically at their own pace.

He also shared his reservations about terms like Khudra Nrigoshti (ethnic minority) or Adibashi (indigenous).

"The word khudra (small/minor) feels a bit uncomfortable to me. We need to think if another word can be used instead. A human being cannot be 'small', regardless of how few their numbers are," he said.

Describing Bangladesh as a land of diverse ethnicities, languages, religions, and cultures, he said the state must treat everyone with equal dignity.

"In the eyes of the state, it shouldn't matter who belongs to an ethnic group, or who is minor or major."