With these two incidents the circle of unreason is complete. They mark ten full years, years during which the country's prestige and liberal ethos, as well as Indian cricket, were held hostage to the hate agenda of a megalomaniac with a pipe. Only hatred is the constant factor in an agenda that has no use for rational argument. Such mindless acts of arson and destruction could be directed just as well against any film, music programme, or squash championship that the supremo deems as offensive or "un-Indian".

That the Shiv Sena couldmount its midnight strike with such impunity testifies to the dismal lack of alertness on the part of the Capital's cricket administration. When even private homes in this city are guarded by a posse of security personnel, to post a couple of lathi-wielding guards to protect this prestigious venue was nothing short of idiocy. But the clearest message emanating from the crime was to the Prime Minister of this country.

By going ahead with its plan to deliberately disrupt the forthcoming Indo-Pak series, the BJP's coalition partner in Maharashtra was indicating to Atal Behari Vajapayee that it cared two hoots for the solemn assurance he had made to the nation in November that no individual or group would be allowed to create hurdles in the path of the Pakistan cricket team.

What's more, Shiv Sena MP, Madhukar Sarpotdar, best known for having been apprehended by the police during the days of the Bombay riots in a jeep filled with firearms, has stated that his political cohorts will do ``whatever possible toprevent the Pakistan cricket team from playing here''. His party colleague, Jaya Bhagwan Goel, went one step further. He did not rule out the possibility of Pakistani players being physically assaulted.

The implications of this entire imbroglio are plain horrendous. Will the Prime Minister now answer whether it is his writ that runs in this country or that of men like Balasaheb Thackeray, who have honed the tactics of terror and blackmail into a fine art? The events in Gujarat have already compromised the BJP-led government's ability to ensure that law and order prevails.

Keshubhai Patel, Gujarat's chief minister, has openly defied the Centre's stricture to rein in the trouble makers intent on stoking communal disaffection in his state. Now it's the turn of Thackeray's hoodlums to cock a snook at the Centre. Unless their ill-conceived mission is put down with an iron hand, the Vajpayee government could emerge with the reputation of having fiddled while thugs of every description stealthily set the countryon fire. This is why the smooth conduct of the India-Pakistan cricket series has become an acid test for Vajpayee.