Neutral ground breeds hostility

The countdown to the Indo-Pak game has started and so have the "hostilities" among youngsters from both the countries, writes Kadambari Murali.

There's a battle on in Birmingham and it's one no one wants to really talk about or acknowledge. Even as the countdown to the India-Pakistan game on Sunday approaches, there's a resumption of "hostilities" among youngsters belonging to both countries and living here. The match is the biggest thing around for miles (despite the two-day live music concert in the area over the weekend) and unlike for the rest of this tournament, tickets were sold out within an hour of them being put out.Perhaps "belonging" would be the wrong word to use really, as most of the kids preparing to take enthusiastic part in the battle for Birmingham don't really belong to either India or Pakistan. Many haven't even been to either country but have embraced the conflict with an enthusiastic zeal that their countrymen back home would be amazed by.Actually, many don't even fit in here. They resent other locals (white or not) and believe that rebellion is the only answer. Take Zak (Zakir), who lives near Small Heath, which otherwise has a large Bangladeshi population also. He sports a crew-cut, has rap music blaring from his car, speaks mostly in a slang associated with those from Jamaica, and has a Pakistani flag draped across his car. "On current form, we're going to kill India," he says with fervent ardour. "It would be a small victory for all the problems Pakistan is going through but it would be a victory nonetheless."