DIBYENDU
BARUA
FD-437,SEC-3
GRANDMASTER-
CHESS
SALT
LAKE
ARJUNA
AWARDEE
KOLKATA-106
GOLD
MEDALIST- CHESS OLYMPIAD
Tel®-23349500
GOLD
MEDALIST- COMMONWEALTH CHAMPIONSHIP
(M)9830094201
GOVERNMENT
OBSERVER- CHESS
Mr.Sunil
Dutt
Minister
for Youth Affairs & Sports
Shastri
Bhavan
Gate
No – 6
New
Delhi – 110001
5th
April, 2005
Respected
Sir,
I
take this opportunity to express my whole-hearted gratitude and thank you for
appointing me as a “Government Observer” in the field of “Chess”. It is
indeed a great honour for me.
Sir,
presently, there has been a mass upheaval amongst the Indian chess players and
different organizers against Shri P.T.Ummer Koya, former Secretary of All India
Chess Federation for his unethical activities. Being an observer, I feel it is
my duty to present before you all the incidences and their causes in this regard
in details for your kind information.
Root
Cause:
All India Chess Federation (AICF) in its AGM on 1st June 2004
decided to deduct, with immediate effect, 10% amount from players' prize money
from all tournaments held in India, citing growing expenses in running the
Federation. In an environment of poor employment & sponsorship
opportunities, prize money is an important source of income for majority of the
players and this unethical cut of 10% to meet Federation's expenses caused
widespread resentment among the players. Many Organizers and State Associations
supported the players in this issue and notably the Maharashtra Chess
Association (MCA) decided not to impose this unethical deduction in the events
held in Maharashtra. Repeated requests from players to Mr.P.T.Ummer Koya, the
then Secretary of AICF, were ignored and he termed the cream of Indian Chess who
showed their protest over this issue in the International tournament held at
Pune in Sep 2004 as 'anti-chess elements' in AICF Forum, the official magazine
of AICF. Finally with mounting pressure, including that of President,
Mr.N.Srinivasan, AICF in its General Body Meeting on 19th Nov 2004
decided to remove this rule although only with effect from 1st Jan
2005. Players' appeal to remove the rule from inception and refund the money
collected in this regard went unheard. Further, disciplinary action was
initiated against MCA in the above meeting for supporting the players in this
issue, bringing into light the 'rubber-stamp' attitude of the General Body,
which has all along supported mindlessly all the proposals of the Secretary.
Formation
of Chess Players' Association of India:
Ironically this 10% deduction from prize money brought the players
(including Grandmasters and International Masters) together to form the 'Chess
Players' Association of India' (CPAI), with the aim of providing a platform to
put forth players' views effectively and to promote and safeguard players’
welfare and interests. Apparently AICF did not view this as a positive sign as
evident from subsequent incidents. Woman Grandmaster Nisha Mohota was wrongly
left out of the Indian Women Team which participated in the Asian Women Chess
Championship held at Beirut, Lebanon during Dec 2004. When CPAI raised the issue
in its inaugural press conference at Kolkata in Dec 2004 clearly explaining the
facts, AICF started its harassment issuing show-cause notice to Nisha Mohota.
Subsequent meetings between some senior players and Mr.P.T.Ummer Koya,
the then AICF Secretary failed to resolve any of the issues raised by CPAI and
the explanations given by him to the players and in the media sounded too
hollow. For example, AICF's annual payment liability to the World Chess
Federation (FIDE) as claimed by Mr.P.T.Ummer Koya was found (by a simple
scrutiny of AICF's audited Account Statements) to be totally misleading. In an
effort to bring into light the abnormal expenditure in running the
Federation and discrepancies in Federation's liability as claimed by the AICF
Secretary in various articles / interviews, CPAI prepared a detailed report and
submitted to AICF President, Mr.N.Srinivasan on 01.02.2005.
Court
Cases:
In a related development, the State Associations of Tamil Nadu,
Maharashtra and Delhi filed a suit at the Madras High Court based on the
financial irregularities in AICF and obtained restraining order on Mr.P.T.Ummer
Koya and Mr.Soumen Majumder from functioning as Secretary and Treasurer of AICF
respectively. The President Mr.N.Srinivasan then appointed Mr.D.V.Sundar and
Mr.N.K.Mishra as Secretary and Treasurer as a temporary measure to run AICF
till the next AGM. In an urgent General Body of AICF convened by the President
at Chennai on 19th Feb 2005, on the President's initiative, Grand
Masters P.Harikrishna and Abhijit Kunte were allowed to express their views on
behalf of the players. Subsequently in a welcome measure, AICF decided to refund
the amount collected through the 10% deduction from players' prize money during
June to December 2004 and also to henceforth charge the Indian players only the
fees as prescribed by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) for participation in
International events as opposed to double the amount charged previously (which
was another serious issue raised by CPAI).
After this GB meeting, some supporters of Mr.P.T.Ummer Koya, in an
attempt to form a parallel body, announced Mr. S.L.Harsh, Mr. P.K.Bhaskaran and
Mr. V.R.Bobba as the President, Secretary and Treasurer. Using the official
website of AICF which was under their control, this break-away group published
statements misleading the public. Also some of the important tournaments
originally allotted to organizers supporting this group and scheduled during
February – March 2005 were postponed without alternate dates being provided.
On 7th March 2005, Madras High Court, in another suit filed by the
State Associations of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Delhi, restrained Mr.P.T.Ummer
Koya, Mr. S.L.Harsh, Mr. P.K.Bhaskaran and Mr. V.R.Bobba from
interfering in the affairs of AICF in any manner and in any capacity.
Current
Status:
The postponement and cancellation of tournaments caused several hardships
to the players. However, after a brief period of uncertainty, the acting body of
All India Chess Federation has announced the dates of a number of important
National events in the near future. Also a new website www.indianchessfed.org
has been launched to serve as the official website of AICF. However a cause of
concern exists with prolonging court cases and reports on attempts by supporters
of Mr.P.T.Ummer Koya to form a parallel body.
This
is for your kind information.
Yours
truly,
-Sd-
(DIBYENDU
BARUA)