IHPL scam shatters Modi regime’s false normalcy myth in IIOJK
Hotels hold Gayle, Ryder, others hostage over unpaid dues after league fiasco
Srinagar: The much-hyped Indian Heaven Premier League (IHPL) in Srinagar — projected by the Modi regime as a symbol of “peace and normalcy” in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, — has collapsed in a full-blown scam, leaving several former international cricket stars, including Chris Gayle and Jesse Ryder, stranded in a hotel after the organisers fled without clearing dues.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the tournament, inaugurated on October 25 with much fanfare at Srinagar’s Bakshi Stadium, was touted by Indian authorities as proof of “growing investment and tourism” in the territory. However, the league has instead exposed the rot beneath New Delhi’s propaganda — a web of deceit, mismanagement, and exploitation under the occupation setup.
The privately-organised IHPL, run by the Mohali-based “Yuva Society,” abruptly ended on Saturday when players and officials refused to participate further due to non-payment of salaries and hotel bills. The organisers reportedly vanished from the city, leaving hotels to detain players, umpires, and support staff until dues were cleared.
Mellisa Juniper, a British umpire at the event, confirmed that none of the officials or players had been paid. “We have not received any payment,” she told reporters, adding that the hotel staff informed her that the organisers had disappeared.
Even as the scandal made headlines, local police and administration offered no clarity or accountability. Observers say this silence reflects the complicity of the occupation authorities, who were quick to use the league as a publicity tool for Modi’s “Naya Kashmir” narrative but are now attempting to distance themselves from the embarrassment.
The scam has also raised questions about how an inexperienced private group was allowed to use the Bakshi Stadium — a government-owned facility under the Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council — without background checks or official oversight. Despite large billboards and media promotions featuring international players like Gayle, Devon Smith, Shakib al-Hasan, and Jesse Ryder, the tournament failed to attract local crowds or generate trust.
The Indian National Congress and regional analysts have described the episode as symptomatic of the Modi regime’s policy of using Jammu and Kashmir as a propaganda laboratory — staging fake spectacles of “development” while ignoring the region’s political reality and human suffering.
“The IHPL was never about sports. It was a desperate attempt by New Delhi to project a sense of normalcy before international audiences,” said a Srinagar-based political commentator. “Now that it has collapsed into scandal and humiliation, it perfectly mirrors the failure of Modi’s Kashmir policy — built on deception, not substance.”
The scandal underscores how the Modi regime’s obsession with image-building continues to backfire. While India promotes Kashmir as a “peaceful tourist paradise,” the territory remains under siege — its people silenced, its institutions hollowed out, and even its sports events turned into instruments of fraud and propaganda.
