Charlie King reaches out to Himanshu Bhatia over racist comment

A trio of Indigenous sporting identities has met with a Darwin umpire who was banned for a racist online comment which ‘damaged the brand’ of the sport. Read what came out of the meeting.

A NT umpire has expressed his regret after making a “racist” online comment, but a Darwin-based cricket captain believes he “betrayed the community’s trust”.

Himanshu Bhatia posted “another classic example of crime around Indigenous population. Never ending saga. Enough is enough. Stop feeding them” on the NT News Facebook page.

The comment was later removed, but NT Cricket banned him from all Cricket 365 matches after finding the post as “racist and offensive”.

The ban and his continued presence umpiring B-Grade in the Darwin & Districts Cricket Competition has drawn mixed opinions from Indigenous cricketers.

A Darwin-based cricketer said he believed someone making those comments about race should not be in an umpiring role.

“He shouldn’t umpire at all because he’s betrayed the trust and people saying racial slurs to Indigenous players shouldn’t be in that position,” the cricketer said.

“I would be right against playing in a game he’s played in and if a comment like that was made in a game I played in, I would have stopped the game and walked off.

NT cricket identities Ken Vowles, Marcus Rosas and Charlie King have met with Himanshu Bhatia (right) who was banned after making an offensive comment.

“Every time you play cricket someone’s got something to say, it’s the same in every sport and we’re trying to stamp that out of the game so everyone gets treated equally.”

No More Founder and NT Indigenous advocate Charlie King said he also believed the initial ban wasn’t the right approach, saying it would only make Bhatia angrier.

Instead he, alongside Indigenous umpire Marcus Rosas and former NT cricketer and board member Ken Vowles, reached out to Bhatia to talk about how harmful his comment was.

The trio sat down with Bhatia for an hour to ensure he realised the damage the comment he had made had on Indigenous people and the brand of cricket.

“When I first read the comment I was disappointed, and later incensed,” King said.

“There needs to be a better way of dealing with people when they make racist comments in sport, suspending or fining them doesn’t work, it just makes them angrier.

“What you need to do is sit down with them and you soon realise you have a lot more in common, and hopefully they’ll come away thinking they need to take better account of what they say.

No More campaigner and Darwin identity Charlie King held a meeting with Himanshu Bhatia following the racist comment. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

“If you make an offensive comment as a cricketer it offends Indigenous people and it damages the brand of cricket which we all love, and people need to realise that.

“And we noticed a genuine change as we spoke to him, constantly bringing him back around so he could see the hurt caused.”

Bhatia said he came away from the meeting with the Indigenous identities feeling regretful about his comment, but also positive on how he could help impact the game in the future.

“It all started from my comment and I could have written better words for it, the message may have been the same but better wording was needed,” he said.

“I’m not against the Indigenous culture, and we spoke in depth about how we can create a very positive environment for players, officials and everyone in cricket.

“I am regretful for writing what I wrote online. We’re all here for cricket and including everyone in cricket is the best thing.”

NT Cricket umpire Himanshu Bhatia has been involved in cricket in Darwin since 2005.

The comment came as Indigenous cricketers were starting to make huge strides on the world stage with Scott Boland a constant in the men’s side and Ash Gardner ripping it up in the women’s Ashes.

“How would they feel seeing a comment like that? How do we bring young Indigenous people into the game after a comment like that?” King said.

It was a sentiment the Darwin-based cricketer echoed saying cricket was something he and his squad – comprised of 90 per cent Indigenous players – looked forward to each week.

“My team look forward to the Saturday every week to play cricket, we have fun playing cricket,” he said.

“Every other team knows us, we joke with each other, we pay out on each other, we just have fun playing with our mates and then something like this happens and it’s not right.

“Young Indigenous kids won’t want to play sport because they’re too scared they’ll get racially abused, I went through it when I was young and had to stay strong to play the sport I love.”

Ultimately, King believed the meeting to be the right approach believing he alongside Vowles and Rosas had made a genuine breakthrough.

It was a model he hoped to see in other sports relating back to a slur which earned Adelaide Crows’ Tex Walker a six-game ban in 2021.

“Talking and ensuring someone takes responsibility for what they say is how you bring someone around,” King said.

“That’s how we make change, and that’s something we need to see of more across sport.”