Punishment to cricketers rocks Parliament

new delhi: the issue of harsh punishment meted out to indian cricketers rocked both houses of parliament on thursday with agitated members taking strong exception to the "discrimantory" action taken by match referee mike denness against sachin tendulkar and five others and some of them seeking recall of the team from south africa. cutting across party lines, members angrily reacted to the punishment saying it appeared the action was based on "racial discrimination." in the lok sabha, some demanded immediate government intervention as the country's prestige was involved and the third test match was scheduled to begin on friday.amid cries of shame, bjp member and a former test player kirti azad said that "policy of apartheid" was being practised against the indian players and if the icc failed to do justice, the indian team should be called back. while mamata banerjee (trinamool congress) and mohan rawale (shiv sena) supported azad's demand, somnath chatterjee (cpm) and priya ranjan dasmunshi (congress) said that the recall of the team could lead to strained relations with south africa. in the rajya sabha, c.p. thirunavukkarasu of dmk, an ally of the ruling nda, said that the indian team be withdrawan if the punishment was based on racial discrimination and colour. "if the decision is on the basis of colour and on an unequal race, it is better to condemn the action of the umpire and quit south africa," the dmk member said while raising a special mention in the rajya sabha. loktantrik congress member rajiv shukla, who is a member of the bcci, said that the board must be adamant on removal of the match referee and if not done, the team be withdrawan.