Himachal, Army fight over stadium

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Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar with Wellington mayor Celia Wade-Brown during her visit to Wellington, New Zealand, on Sunday. —

A historical ground in Shimla has become the bone of contention between the Army and the BJP government in Himachal Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA), led by Anurag Thakur son of chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, is batting for a cricket stadium at the Annadale ground, which is under the control of the Army since pre-Independence days.
The issue of the stadium has brought the Army and the state government at loggerheads, as the Army has criticised the state government for taking short-sighted view on an issue of strategic importance.
The controversy started when Mr Thakur, who had always advocated that a cricket stadium should be built at the Annadale ground, recently launched a mass signature campaign.
The campaign was seeking the transfer of the Annadale ground to the civilian administration to convert it into an international cricket stadium.
Even at the time of the signature campaign of the HPCA, the Opposition Congress had criticised the move of turning the Annadale ground into a cricket stadium saying that the ground should stay with the Army.
However, in a latest twist in the on-going battle over the control of the ground the Army has obliquely attacked the state government. In a release issued from the Western Command, Chandimandir, it is said, “The fact that Annadale ground, Shimla, is of paramount strategic significance for the Indian Army for training and disaster management purposes which are not negotiable at any cost.” It further adds, “The strategic significance of Annadale as forward logistic and operational base for operations in the sector adjoining Himachal is being overlooked in preference for a cricket stadium”.
Giving the historical background of the ground the release says, “A portion of Annadale was being used by Durand Football Tournament Society instituted in the year 1888. This was taken over by the Army during the World War II to be used as a training camp. The land is in possession of the Army ever since and is used for numerous military operational and logistic activities”.