Protests over football matches not being shown on Indian television aren’t uncommon. Means of protests may have changed though, with football lovers taking to Twitter earlier this year to protest against the non-telecast of the AFC Cup clash between Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC.

Mercifully, there are multiple options for the fans to livestream matches in 2017, so this is a minor drawback to the hardcore afficionado in this day and age.

In the mid-2000’s however, options were limited with Doordarshan showing the national team’s matches. Thus when the public service broadcaster stopped showing the matches, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan fans held joint protests outside the Doordarshan Bhavan.

With their clubs nearing a period of uncertainty with their bids to join the Indian Super League scuttled while Bengaluru FC have moved, some from both sides have seen this as a wake-up call to follow a similar course of action this time around.

Picture courtesy: Sauritography

“There has to be one country, one league”

A forum known as the Bengal Football Lovers Forum, has been formed with fans of both the Maroon-and-Greens and the Lal Holud (The Red and Golds).

Sushanta Bar, spokesperson for the BFLF says, “This forum is way for both MB and EB fans to protest against the black shadow which the AIFF and IMG-R are bringing on us. How can they talk about having two leagues in a country? There has to be one country, one league. That is how it is in most major footballing countries…Spain England…etc. That is why we started this protest from June 1 onwards, with both MB and EB fans on one platform.”

On the 25th of June, the Forum held their first major protest as hundreds of supporters, young and old, marched through the streets of the Park Street area against the All India Football Federation, it’s marketing partners IMG-Reliance and former East Bengal and Mohun Bagan player Bhaichung Bhutia.

When pointed towards the inability of their own officials to seal up the ISL bids, an East Bengal supporter who did not wish to be identified, “Supporters from both clubs have protested several times against the officials. But this (the Forum) is about a much larger issue; the systemic take-over of Indian football.”

Bar, himself a member of a local Mohun Bagan fanclub called Jiboner Rong Sobuj Maroon (Translates to ‘Life is coloured Green and Maroon’), echoes similar thoughts, “We are not against AIFF, but we are against AIFF’s decision to sell out to a commercial entity, IMG-R who is deciding what will happen in Indian football. The I-League must be the primary league in Indian football.”

Bhaichung once worshipped; now vilified

Most importantly, it is Bhaichung Bhutia’s fall from grace in a city where he was once worshipped by both sets of supporters, that is really making the news.

So why have some of the MB-EB fanbase turned against Bhutia? “Bhaichung Bhutia is a big name, an icon in Indian football…but he has forgotten the clubs that made him the icon, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. He is implicitly supporting the ISL and forgetting the Kolkata football which played such a big role in his rise. We have the support of other football greats as well though we cannot mention names. They have encouraged us to protest against this black shadow.”

Indranil Dasgupta, an ex-Air Force employee and an ardent East Bengal fan living in the Bally locality of Kolkata, explains how the movement came about, “In May, we and a few students started posting our protests on this on FB. We were noticing that even MB fans were supporting us in what we were saying. Srijit, one of the other members, made a beautiful post saying “Ami na thakle, tui nei” (If I am not here, nor are you). We made a Whatsapp group getting all our supporters in…both MB and EB. On 3rd June, in front of the Gostho Pal statue at Maidan, we had our first meeting. Then it was only 22 people. But we persevered with the movement and created the Bengal Football Lovers Forum…through Whatsapp, we managed to get EB and MB fans together.”

Pleasantly surprised by the unity between the two sets of supporters, July 8 has been set aside for a MahaMichil (Large Protest). More than 4,000 members are expected for the protest, according to Bar.

“Now that we have come together, it may work”

Dasgupta feels that there has been a little change due to this movement in the the rivalry, “That incessant hatred between us may have diminished a little. In EB-MB matches, there is always trolling, but when I meet MB fans, I realize they are not so different from us. People have come together…and I think maybe when there is an EB-MB match next time…the 90 minutes will definitely see rivalry but maybe the ugliness will subside a little….that is a good thing.”

There are detractors who refuse to join the movement though, rigid fans on both sides who refuse to join hands with the bitter enemies. But there’s an ever-expanding legion of fans on both sides who believe that the time is ripe for both set of supporters to come together.

Tanmoy, a Mohun Bagan summarizes it up best, “Of course, the EB-MB rivalry is historic but the rivalry is only for 90 minutes. We are all one at the end of the day…we are human beings, same as everyone else and we have to come together to fight AIFF and IMG-R. By doing it alone, it was not working but now that we have come together, it may work.”