It was a dark and stormy night. That’s a lie. It was a mild and unseasonably warm night and I was almost asleep, lulled away by Heidi Klum’s and Niki Taylor’s voiceovers on Bravo.
Then, something insane happened; I received a reality-bending email. But first, some unnecessary prattle back story.
From age 0-3.5, I had a much-adored stuffed bear, like most children my age. Unlike most children, my bear was named Babu, which totally proves that kids born here in the early to mid seventies might as well have been popped out “back home”. Anyway, Babu was wonderful as a confidante, hugging partner and drool-catcher…until we moved to San Francisco. Somewhere between Southern California and Northern, Babu disappeared, never to be seen again.
Last night, dazed and confused by exhaustion, I checked my email one final time…and did a sleepy double-take. There, in my inbox…Babu. The only justification I can offer for thinking what comes next is, um, Benadryl. “My Babu reached out to me from beyond!”, I gasped, and he did so via GMail no less:
Hi Anna,
It’s the biggest story happening in Indian Cricket and you are not covering it….that’s not right ๐
Feed your cricket hunger with the story. I’m not sure if you are aware of the suspension of an Indian cricket player over racial abuse. This has created a cricket war between India and Australia. and YOU should write about it.
It has high drama, fight for honor, millions of dollars at stake and the big Indian ego Vs Australian. Australian media is supporting India as well ๐
Link, link, link and link.
Well, I didn’t wanna vote in News tab and wait….hehe.. ๐
~Babu
Babu, after absorbing tears, snot and Lord knows what else, this is the least I can do.
All right people.
The cricket post I have received eleven requests for (not counting the above-pasted, impassioned plea from my bear) is up next.
India’s cricket team stayed in its hotel in protest Monday after one of its players was penalized for allegedly using a racial slur during a match against Australia.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India plans to challenge the “the unfair decision” by the International Cricket Council to suspend Harbhajan Singh for three matches because it said he made racist remarks to Australia’s only black player. The Indian board said it will “suspend its operation until the appeal is disposed of.” [IHT]
What the hell is going on, you might be asking. No? Well, I was asking…this is a lot of story for a blogger of little cricket brain. Apparently Indian cricket player Harbhajan Singh called Australian player Andrew Symonds a monkey. Symonds is black.
Admittedly, “monkey” would not qualify in the top hundred racist insults. Ian Botham used to revel in the nickname “Guy The Gorilla”. When all is said and done, we are all simian primates. But the word “monkey” had form, as everybody knew that Symonds had supposedly suffered such insults last year from Indian crowds. So case proven, the Indian spinner was guilty as charged. The Indian board should stop its posturing, accept what must be a galling reminder that it is the International Cricket Council that still runs the game, and get on with the tour.
Do not delude yourself, though, that in punishing Harbhajan cricket is punishing a sinner. It is punishing a victim. It is punishing a player who, it might be concluded, mentally disintegrated. Remember mental disintegration? It is Australia’s nauseatingly self-congratulatory phrase for sledging. And it worked. It worked so well that Harbhajan cracked and Australia have not stopped bleating about their shoddy little victory ever since. [Guardian]
Sledging is a cricket term for undermining players by talking a lot o’ tatti. Insult someone enough and they crack, not that I would know a damned thing about that.
Match referee Mike Proctor held a four-hour hearing at the Sydney Cricket Ground after Australia’s 122-run victory and ruled that the case against the India spinner was proved.
“I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Harbhajan Singh directed that word at Andrew Symonds and also that he meant it to offend on the basis of Symonds’ race or ethnic origin,” Proctor said. [IHT]
Beyond a reasonable doubt, eh?
“Unfair allegation of racism against our Indian player is wholly unacceptable,” said board president Sharad Pawar, who is also a senior government minister, in a statement. “The game of cricket is paramount but so too is the honor of India’s cricket team and every Indian.” [IHT]
Warning: cricket neophyte about to type.
The second test match of the tour = drama. Captain Kumble (that’s fun to say!) called the Aussies out on being dirty bastards while his team rolled their eyes the fifth time the umpires made a stupid and unfair decision.
The most blatant was an appeal that would have put Symonds out after just 30 runs in the first innings.
Symonds has freely admitted he should have been out. He went on to score 162 runs not out and was later named man of the match. [IHT]
We’re not alone in our hot tub of displeasure:
Several Australian newspapers agreed Monday that India should have won the second test, and criticized the behavior of Australian players during the test. [IHT]
I think what is pissing so many people off is the double-standard which is so evident in this unfortunate situation, the hypocrisy.
The problem is that Australia’s dividing line is not a reliable division between the morally upstanding and the indefensible. Australia’s dividing line is repugnant, enabling the condemnation of the likes of Harbhajan whilst legitimising obnoxious behaviour that cricket should have had the bravery to root out a generation ago.
Racism cannot be countenanced. But it is a rum old world that bans a man for three Tests for calling someone a monkey, yet allows the sort of boorish behaviour that allows first slip to drone to a batsman that he is shagging his wife, or that convinces any fast bowler with half a brain that personal insults every time a batsman plays and misses are essential for any cricketer of spirit. As long as you are careful not to refer to the colour of his skin.
It needs to be remembered that Harbhajan’s assault did not come without provocation. Before he was abused as a monkey, Symonds had been indulging in a phrase or two out of the corner of his mouth. Australia and Harbhajan have been at each other for years. But Australia have been obsessed with “reverse racism” ever since Darren Lehmann, their batsman, became the first international player to be banned for the racial abuse of Sri Lankan players five years ago. They have been intent upon revenge and now they have gained it. [Guardian]
What I found interesting is how Harbhajan Singh’s outburst might have been overlooked (vs. becoming the subject of 5,000 blog posts and news articles) had Aussie captain Ponting not whined about it to the umpires, thus drawing attention to it. That’s classy.
Well, Ponting may have won this pathetic, wee, jeer-worthy (no! sledging-worthy) battle but after everything I’ve read online, he has lost far more, most notably respect and credibility because of it. Well-played. Idiot (note: must be pronounced the way Naseeruddin Shah did in Monsoon Wedding, kthx bai).
mate, it is not sport – it is a billion dollar business. the days of a person playing for fun is over. People have jobs / careers etc in Sport. It is serious business. It is not played for fun – tis a life and death ( to paraphrase the footy fans)
coz if you are a serial thief, your complaints that you got pickpocketed wont be taken too seriously. Sledging is the Australian way. I have no qualms about it. My whinge is that if you dish it out, you should take it which the Aussie team does not want to. Are we sure that bhajji was not set up coz Ponting is his bunny.
so both teams are lying. Mexican standoff
I would say that this episode is the Enron of Cricket.
far too many comments from me ๐ thank you everyone.
Because I am a sucker for punishment…
i heard you the first time. the game can still be won or lost without it. well, unless you have bookie friends, I guess.
i am open to the possibility. it has occurred to me. yet, chucking a sook and burning effigies – yeah, strangely i find that an over reaction. yes it’s the reality of supporters, but it’s still dumb and immature. i’m rather outside of this, as someone who isn’t indian but barracked for india, and also considers herself aussie but hates the aussie team. this is how i perceive it.
now, if only india had batted to draw, rather than that sinking feeling of inevitable subontinental collapse. wouldn’t that have been something given the stellar performance of kumble – not to mention harbhajan and tendulkar. ah well. if only…
so am I. the batting on the last day sucked – 10 weeks in 70 odd overs. what a disgrace… time to burn the effigies of the indian batsmen for an inept display.
the bookies were at 2.40 for an australian win when india was down by 5 wickets. kinda strange. I wonder how much of the effigy burning was due to the bookies losing money.
flygirl – thank you for your comments – impartial perspective are hard to come by.
I find it interesting that the media and a lot of it owned by Rupert Murdoch is playing up both sides of the story in either country in a parochial manner. This has to be the most commented stories on The Daily Terror.
Peter Roebuck, right on the money again. Australians not only ones with issues.
With Wasim Jaffer for company. Although Jaffer might have better luck going fishing, given his ability to hang his bat out just so. The sad thing is that alternatives are not exactly waiting in the wings, Karthik and Sehwag are also a complete roll of the dice on current form.
Flygirl and Melbourne Desi รยขรขโยฌรขโฌล thanks for your comments; I wanted to hear from Desi-Aussies.
@ Flygirl:
The main reason for Indian fury is the fact that a word of an Aussie was taken as the fact; there is no evidence that suggests that Bhajji slurred Symonds. There is no proof that Bhajji called Symonds a monkey in Sydney or in Mumbai The Mumbai crowd in not Bhajji;you may call Mumbai crowd whatever you want, but you cannot project what the crowd did on Bhajji.
And as for your comment that every unsavory incident related to race should not be brought up in this mess, at least Indian press has stayed away from commenting on race relation in Aussie land. Same cannot be said about Aussie Gutter Press (AGP). Check this, one AGP scribe commented on “caste bias” in Indian cricket – even categorized Indian team based on caste. This is SMH; not some rag.
[quote] Castes among the Indian team’s Hindus: Brahmin Anil Kumble Rahul Dravid VVS Laxman Sachin Tendulkar Sourav Ganguly R.P. Singh Ishant Sharma Jat Yuvraj Singh Rajput Mahendra Dhoni [un quote]
Aussies are pissed as they are not able assert themselves in this situation; 55+ million dollars is at stake; which means if Indians leave Cricket Australia (CA) is poorer by 50mils. Indian do not care as much as they can reschedule matches in Canada, Singapore or some other place with high Desi population and make up for the losses. My suggestion is Indians should catch a flight to New Zeeland and play a few exibition matches there, just to stick it up to Aussies further, (at the same time fill the coffers of NZ cricket board).
such hypocrisy! as a very dark skinned indian muslim, i know all too well that racism in desh is alive and well in all its ugly avatars. this said, australians should be the last people on the planet accusing others of racism. after all they are residing on land, which was brutally stolen from the aborigines whose only fault was their dark skin, animist faith, and lack of sufficient martial prowess. not only was the natives’ land stolen but their culture is also being systematically obliterated: their way of life and pagan beliefs have been supplanted, forcibly for all practical purposes, by x’tianity. they have been relegated to the status of third class citizens in their own home. a very bleak future, sans any hope, has been carved for those wretched people by the white man. indeed, it would not be a stretch to claim that the australian aborigine faces a worse future than a low caste muslim [yes, such a denizen does exist, shamefully]in india.
You kind of have to expect this from Australia. Just have a look at their history and as we all know they were sent here because their ancestors were the rejects/criminals of society in england and its still evident in general society today.
Im an Aussie Desi (born and breed here) and sadly ive been coping crap at work since Monday from nearly EVERY SINGLE employee. I actually thought that some would sympathize with me, but no, it just proves how racist the general population of Australia is (trust me, i can vouch for this)
Its actually gotten to the point where ive had too speak to the Harassment officer & make a complaint about it! (Im the only colored person in my dept) I couldn’t help myself and told them “In all honesty, you cant blame me! I am just using the techniques that have been drilled into me since birth and im copying ricky ponting. Why would i speak to the people who are saying these things ? Isnt it our aussie way to go and squeal ?. If it gets worse, ill let you follow it up”
Ive told the harassment officer that i don’t want it followed up as of yet but id still like it in the system as if it keeps up, im going to snap at work and at least they will know why =)
Racist!
Signed, Mike “I am racism” Procter
Finally, someone who gets it.
“Monkey” could be a racial epithet. But, I’m sure in his defense he can bring up the fact that pretty much all North Indian vernaculars have “monkey, pig, donkey” are commonly used without racial connotation.
The F-edupness of Indian racism is not what is on trial here.
The Indian team should go home because it’s disappointing to watch such a pathetic performance and the chest thumping that has become part of these two country’s meetings on the field.
Maybe they should bring in Brian Lara/R. Sarwan as a consultant to teach the Indian players how to not pay attention to the Aussies.
Aussies view the ‘mental game’ as just another aspect to be dominated. But, this time their own fans are embarassed by their un-sportsmanlike conduct–it’s like part of their 10 commandments.
flygirl, I see that much like your white male Aussie counterparts, you too get a cruel pleasure in attacking brown men. I have never experienced the kind of racism, name-calling, harassment, fights, etc. as I did in the year I lived in Oz (2005-2006). As for my ‘conflation’, I think making people aware of the brutal beating of an Asian tourist just outside the steps of the Sydney Cricket Ground, helps them form an idea of how a country so blind to racism, suddenly becomes so sensitive to it on the pitch.
Tell me flygirl, are the riot police and paddy wagons ready to handle the mobs of racist hooligans who will undoubtedly descend on the Aussie Open again, this year?
So, to answer your question Kram, I’m realer, than real:
You obviously don’t know anything about Oz. Aussie Rules is the ‘off-season’ sport (played on cricket grounds) and orginated from a desire for players to keep conditioned during the winter/cricket off-season. While it is true that Aussies play rugby union, league, Aussie rules, soccer, basketball, watersports… cricket is the ONLY summer sport and as such, commands a universal following amongst the public. No other sporting team commands a wider following.
Sorry, my posts get a bit long-winded. What the last one should have said was:
Just beat the f*ckers
Specialist Batsman
2 Specialist Batsmen failed, out of which one was partly done in by bad umpiring. For Aus, Ponting and Clarke failed, and they were not done in by the umpires (No, the inner edge does not count as Ponting was out earlier). Tendulkar got a lbw turned down incorrectly, but so did Hussey and Symonds (this is in addition to the 3 other lives)
Unlike the MCG, the SCG batting performance was decent. Kumble has said that there will be changes, I am betting that Jaffer and Yuvraj will be booted for Perth.
I agree with you that the second inn was a disappointment. My feeling is India tend to be overcautious in the 2nd and do not play their natural game and land up getting out.This is where the lack of a head coach is hurting India. The players who played their natural game, Dravid and Ganguly, were done in by bad umpiring.
Karm
I have been called a monkey by lighter skinned North Indians. Done the same to friends who were much darker than Symonds. Never thought it had racial overtones. Besides while growing up I also faced explicit race based insults (the usual “fair skinned” “Aryan” Northies Vs “black” “Dravidian” Southies nonsense). Such insults were also considered to be tolerable. Insults on the mother / family on the other hand were not. I guess I overgeneralized from my experience and things were different where you grew up.
What has emerged from the situation in Australia is that India appears to be the biggest whiners on planet earth. I highly doubt that any of this would have arisen had India won or drawn the last test. Losing can be so hurtful sometimes. And Harbhajan Singh should be taken to task for using the term monkey. Racism in any way, shape or form should not be tolerated.
Troll Alert!
Nothing trollish about those comments mate. India is holding the ICC to ransom and it is shameful. There cannot be one rule for India and another for all the other countries. Harbhajan Singh is certainly no poster boy for good behaviour. He purposely called Symonds to get a rise out of him after what happened in India.
210 รโรยท KangaCurry said
I am sure you do breed, but I think you meant bred ๐
Me think Harbhajan said “teri maa Ki…… (rhymes with bhooth)”and poor Symonds mistook it for “monkey”. honest mistake indeed ๐
Cliffy
James,
Do you really think that cricketing authorities have been evenhanded in past when it came to issuing fines and punishments? If you do then we have little to talk about. It is all about leverage; earlier white cricket playing nations had all the leverage, now it is not the case — times have changed. Then main reason why you are whining is that you cannot come to terms with this fact. Try petitioning your Aussies Heros to cancel the contracts that they have signed to endorse Indian products.
Also, Harbhajan is no more a lout then any of the Aussie players.
I’m not the one whining Sulabh, that is being done by the Indian team, the BCCI and a heck of a lot of Indian fans. Others are watching in disgust at this outreageous display of sooky behaviour. What India is doing is stamping its feet like a petulant little child because things didn’t go its way. Apparently for the BCCI and many Indian fans “behaving in the right spirit” = “might is right.” It’s just sour grapes for not being able to beat the Australians. Trying to defend Harbhajan’s racist comments are just lame.
Check out the wonderful cricket “memorabilia” being produced in India
“Incredible India!” indeed.
I would love to see Harbhajan say “monkey” to a black guy outside the cricket grounds. I think he’ll be out of business for more than 3 matches.
๐ Best backhanded defense ever.
Let’s have a good look at Harbhajan’s behaviour in this video
How ironic. When an Australian doesn’t walk the Indians call them cheats…
1) the bcci is wrong to hold the tour at ransom pending harbajan’s appeal, and to conflate multiple issues (bhajji slur and umpiring). but this is only to be expected (though not condoned or commended) given bcci’s clout in the cricketing world, and that india accounts for more than 70% of total cricket related revenues accruing to the icc.
2) bhajji should be punished for uttering those words (if indeed it can be demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that he did so; and the process should be transparent) and the excuse that ‘monkey’ doesn’t count as racist in india does not fly, given what went on before.
All this being said:
1) the process by which harbajan was “convicted” was farcical and would be laughed out of any court of law in any civilized country (again, that does not justify the bcci’s stand; though apparently they feel–wrongly in my opinion– that application of external pressure would make the process more “fair”)
2) the umpiring was atrocious and definitely cost india the game (this, i think is not controversial); bucknor, according to those who know him has been affected by weakened hearing and eyesight and had been advised by respected colleagues such as dickie bird to quit while he was ahead (but again to demand his dismissal from the third test was wrong, in my opinion; though again it was expected that the bcci would get its way)
3) not related, but as plenty of people have pointed out before, australia is probably one of the more “causally” racist–or racially insensitive– “western” countries. the level of casual racism accepted even in in polite company in australia would surprise (sometimes pleasantly) many (even secretly racist) americans and english. i have had personal experience of this multiple times (and have actually succeeded in predicting incidents). so for ponting to crow about racism is a bit disingenuous.
Finally to understand why the bcci is acting the way it is (without necessarily condoning its behavior) one should look at the history of international cricket and the role of the subcontinental teams….everything has a context(i’ve got a two word hint: payback time)
Yes, James. Given that the Australians are behaving exactly as they always accused subcontinental teams of behaving – taking advantage of ridiculous umpiring, over appealing and haranguing the umpires, as well as elaborate histrionics as if every ball is the miracle ball that turned square, isn’t it only fair that the Indians emulate the heroic Australian/English cabal in how they run roughshod over everybody else now that they hold the whip handle?
(And to be clear, I am being facetious. The Indians are conflating multiple issues, but you didn’t see them whining when they were beaten in the first test. I think they have many reasons to be unhappy, not least, Ponting’s facade of gentlemanliness combined with his loutish and unsportsmanlike behavior on the field.)
I leave a thread for a few horus and what happens?
Ah, Krish, Krish…my white male Aussie counterparts? WTF does that mean? I’m a brown chick, Lankan born, Aussie bred, at least four different cities. Did you miss that bit in my posts, did you see it through your “red mist”? You got something to teach me about Australia I don’t already know? Have you got something about the sporting and cricketing attitudes of Autralia to teach a fan of Muttiah Muralitharan? I’m crushed, CRUSHED I tell you, by your disapprobation…..
Well, mate, as I am not actually Christine Nixon in disguise, I can’t confirm that, but I freaking well hope so. Yeah, Australia is a seething mass of racism waiting to break free of the shackles of political correctness, a bunch of criminal, kangaroo-loving descendants, blah blah blah…I’ve heard it all before. I’ve heard it from English, I’ve heard it from the Lankans, but we took it to them and at least we managed to kick Aussie a$$ in the end. Perhaps India would like to try that in conjunction with their appeal?
The few sensible points you managed all day.
Rahul,
207, I suppose they want to see if it how useless Yuvraj can possibly get, you know, for experimental purposes.
What facade?! I suppose only Aussie supporters think that. It’s a great ruse though.
Rahul, no team in the history of cricket has gone into the level of histrionics that India has during this tour. It was almost amusing to see them holed up in a hotel threatening to walk out if their demands were not met. If India do not want to play within the rules set up by the ICC they should just walk out and never come back. I seriously don’t think the Australians will miss them, they’re too busy setting records and winning World Cups.
not to disagree with your basic criticism of the behavior of bcci, or the team, but the australian cricket board (and many players for that matter) will be begging india to come back. if india goes “cricket” as a sport will be in deep do do. not necessarily a good thing, depending on you point of view, but the reality nonetheless.
Dizzydesi, you’re on the mark there. I also got the impression that given the massive improvement from the first to the second test, that India would have done well to haev a few more tour matches to get used to the pitches and acclimatise. India seemed really focussed and up for it. I like to imagine a results shift, where the first test would have ended in a draw with the standard of playing (obviously not the umpiring), following by a dizzying win in the second. I have no predictions for the Perth test, since it’s teh hardest pitch in the country.
[sigh] I meant preparatory, not tour matches…
sigh!, I really don’t think Australia will be “begging” India to come back. That is an Indian chauvinistic dream. If walks out of the ICC, what remains to be seen is whether Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will walk out with them or not. I don’t think they will. And if they do it will be India who will be held responsible to creating a schism in world cricket. All the money in the world isn’t going to matter if India has no one to play with.
Them and Kumble, who was the first captain to agree on the fielding captain’s pact on catches with Ponting. Silly fool.
I guess ๐ I am honestly flummoxed by Yuvraj, he struggles against quality spin, but I don’t see why he is so dramatically incompetent in tests, even to the point of not scoring 20-30 runs.
James, these are the new rules ๐
again, i don’t think its necessarily a good thing, but if india walks out so will the other three subcontinental countries (and zimbabwe; also the board of cricket in south africa ucbsa is very pro-bcci, though not the players). it will be damaging for all concerned (including bcci, of course). but relatively speaking the icc would be completely impoverished.
Seem pretty monkeyish to me Rahul ๐
James,
Don’t be silly, you may not miss them but Cricket Australia will miss Indians — a LOT.
If the two nations stop playing then I’d admit, albeit grudgingly, that I will miss your ugly louts because today they are the most talented bunch of thugs when it comes to playing cricket. I am sorry mate รขโฌโ this is the closest I can come to complimenting the Aussie team.
I hope the next match would be played under better circumstances, Punter would not claim grounded catches, and Bhajji will keep his mouth shut.
“but if india walks out so will the other three subcontinental countries”
I highly doubt it. I don’t think any of them would have anything to do with any such petulant behaviour of the BCCI and the brattish Indian cricket team. The ICC survived when India wasn’t really around in the world stage. And it will surivive without India today. I guess then the BCCI can arrange its own World Cup where the Indian cricket team plays a backward village like in Lagaan.
Sulabh,
If India run away, I don’t think Cricket Australia will give two hoots. There are plenty of other countries around who would love to tour Australia. Not only cricketers mind you, plenty of Indians line up everyday hoping to get a resident permit. If India run away, I won’t have to deal with having to listen to a whining, petulant cricket team that cannot stand the fact that it lost 3 wickets within 10 minutes to lose a game. And as for ugly looking, ask the girls to decide which team is better looking ๐ And you do know that the word THUG comes from an Indian language, don’t you? Because there are plenty of thugs in India maybe? I see the effigy burning is in full swing.
actually james, given past behavior of the four boards (and given that india, pakistan, and sri-lanka were instrumental in granting bangadesh test status)it seems more likely than unlikely (plug in the the numbers in bayes’s formula and you will see what i mean). they four boards have voted as a bloc in almost every important icc vote (there is hardly an exception in the 90s; actually none regardless of the “justice” of the situation). its exceptionally naive to think that “rightness” or “wrongness” of an issue has anything to do with it (india has always, again without exception–since the late 80s– always supported the sri lanka and pakistan boards when any conflict with icc develops, even on highly dubious issues).
238 รโรยท James said
James, I can understand why you think the Aussie team’s behavior is the high ground.
James,
I knew you were a troll. Bye Bye.
James,
Ummm….not sure you’d like the answer to that….It ain’t Ricky Ponting for sure. I was appalled to find his ugly mug and beady eyes in the Omega ads. Don’t get me started…
Stupid quoting function that cannot deal with paragraphs! Can somebody delete my previous comment (currently #240)?
James, I can understand why you think the Aussie team’s behavior is the high ground.
Sigh!, voting as a “bloc” is one thing, making a drastic step of walking out — I highly, highly doubt Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will do that. Infact, I think they would try and dissuade India from doing anything like that. To be honest I wouldn’t be shedding any tears if India did walk out, because after witnessing the events of the last few days, it would probably do the cricketing world a whole lot of good.
Sulabh, you’re sounding more and more like the Indian cricket – throwing accusations and then running off to have a cry.
238, wow, what a GREAT comment, James. Really proved your point. Well done, jackass.
Please point out what is wrong in that comment of mine flygirl? I see far worse comments aimed at Australians on this board, and not a peep from you about them. Please don’t get me started on the “sportsmanship” of that portly Arjuna Ranatunga asking for a runner everytime he got puffed out ๐
Ponting’s reading of situations seems as incompetent as his reading of quality off spin. This entire article reads like it is off the Onion.
Late in the game on this – thanks to Pagal Aadmi for Debauchery for calling it out for what it is in the early comments.
Etymology of the word THUG:
thug
1810, “member of a gang of murderers and robbers in India who strangled their victims,” from Marathi thag, thak “cheat, swindler,” Hindi thag, perhaps from Skt. sthaga-s “cunning, fraudulent,” possibly from sthagayati “(he) covers, conceals,” from PIE base *(s)teg- “cover” (see stegosaurus). Transferred sense of “ruffian, cutthroat” first recorded 1839. The more correct Indian name is phanseegur, and the activity was described in Eng. as far back as c.1665. Rigorously prosecuted by the British from 1831, they were driven from existence, but the process extended over the rest of the 19c.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=thug&searchmode=none