There seems to be a wave of anti-outsider sentiment sweeping across Europe. In the latest episode that was widely reported in the media a few months ago, a group of legally settled youths from the Indian subcontinent were forbidden from playing cricket in the town of Monfalcone in Northern Italy.
According to a BBC report, the ban on cricket has come to symbolise the deep-seated tensions that are flaring up in Monfalcone. The town has an ethnic make-up that is seldom found in other parts of Italy. Out of a population of just over 30,000, nearly a third are foreigners. Most of them are Indians and Bangladeshis who began to arrive in the 1990s to build Italy’s giant cruise ships as well as aircraft carriers for the Italian navy.
In the town of Monfalcone, Italians in Western clothes mingle with Asians wearing shalwar kameez and hijabs. There are Bangladeshi restaurants and halal shops, and several business establishments that employ South Asian people.
But of late, tensions have been brewing. The villain of the story is the town’s mayor, a woman named Anna Maria Cisint. She is a far-right politician well-known for her dislike of outsiders, especially Muslims. Even those who have settled there legally have faced her wrath. Last year she outlawed playing cricket within the municipal limits of Monfalcone. She enabled legislation to be passed which stated that any team caught playing cricket within the town would be arrested and fined 100 Euros.
Her excuse was that the game does not reflect Italian culture and its presence is threatening the traditional lives of the Italian inhabitants.
In her two terms in office, Ms Cisint has often raved and delivered tirades against the dresses that Muslim women wear. “There’s a very strong process of Islamic fundamentalism here. It is a culture where women are treated very badly and oppressed by men. This community’s game of cricket poses a danger to the local population,” she told the reporter.
She told the BBC that she refused to grant the Asians the privilege to play their favourite sport because she said that they offer nothing in return. “They have given nothing to this city or our community,” she said. She ignored the fact that the Bangladeshi and Indian workers came to Italy and helped build the country’s giant ships at the Fincantieri shipyard which is the largest shipyard in Europe. Ships built here are sold to other European nations as well as to Australia and the USA.
But the mayor’s hostile attitude has not dampened the spirit of the cricket enthusiasts. The intrepid cricketers of the town and their team named Monfalcone Tigers have not given up hope. They have laid out a pitch outside the town limits and are carrying on their practice and matches at the new location. With their own money, they levelled the ground, created practice pitches and match pitches, and traveled long distances daily to continue to play the game they loved so much.
One of the leading batsmen of the team, Masum Ahmed, explained the situation in these words: “They are saying that our game is against their way of life and their culture. They want to banish cricket. But cricket is merely an excuse. They are using it as a tool to hurt us. They are against us, our beliefs, and our lifestyle.” The players are determined to ensure that as long as they exist, their beloved game will prosper – not just in Monfalcone but throughout Italy.
