Sentence against Harbhajan

Announcing his verdict, Procter said: "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."

Beyond reasonable doubt?? Really? Procter must have served as a judge for a long time specializing in settling cases of racial abuse. No? Oh so he has a degree in law and a moonlights as an attorney. No? Degree in Psychology? No? So he must have a deep insight into Indian culture. No? He has known Harbhajan for a long time and can identify every thought crossing his mind? No. Maybe Procter has overcome his biases by training his mind to study cases objectively. No, not that either. Hmmm... so then, Procter is a reeeally smart individual with a 95th percentile IQ.... let me guess...

What makes Procter so sure what Harbhajan's intent was?? Did Harbhajan confess to having a racist intent? As Procter himself says in an interview ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0xKcPTU7CY ), the umpires heard nothing. Ponting reported to the umpires and the umpires reported to Procter. So what is this conclusive and beyond-all-reasonable-doubt evidence that Procter got hold of?

Did anyone do a content analysis of everything that came out of the mouths of the Australian players? Who decides that "mother****er" is more acceptable than "monkey"? How about the numerous instances of the use of abusive (and genuinely racist) language by Australians recorded on tape.

In this clip (famous for Sreesanth getting jiggy with it) you can clearly see Nel calling him "a bunny".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iS89YFIdIk&feature=related

Why is "bunny" okay and "monkey" racist? Only because "bunny" is colloquial English for tailender, implying soft and harmless.

If colloquial English usage can render "bunny" harmless, why shouldn't our monkey-god do the same for "monkey". In fact Indians call Indians "monkey" too - and usually in friendly banter (some might be familiar with "...lohe ka pajama, bandar tera maamaa"). What I'm saying is that if someone called Kakkar, Kumar or Khan had made the decision, it is conceivable that they might have seen the situation differently. But (white) ICC chooses to execute laws with varying degrees of compassion for the "offenders" - degrees depending on the race of the player in question.

Cricket fans should open their eyes and recognize where the real racism is.