It has been said by various leaders, even visionaries, that sports and physical fitness are one of the most important fabric on which a society forms its designs. In our perspective, Muhammad Ali Jinnah echoed these thoughts in the first Olympiad held in Pakistan in 1948. It is for this reason that the lack of cricket being played in Pakistan brings an important question to mind: is the exile on cricket justified, or is it a part of the war being waged against Pakistan’s existence?
It is not easy to buy into conspiracy theories. Why, for example, is it that when our cricket team loses, the matches are always fixed but we have never won a fixed match? But there are various incidents that make me feel that there may actually be an agenda against Pakistan, instigated perhaps by BCCI, which enjoys overwhelming power in the ICC.
To understand this, I revisited the attacks in the Sri Lanka cricket team in 2009. Sri Lanka has a chequered history of violence within the country. Hence, it surprised me that when I searched for ‘Sri Lanka attack’, all entries related to the attack on the cricket team. And this is where it all started. A group of persons opened fire at the visiting team bus, injuring many, followed by a ban on international cricket in Pakistan. That may have been a reasonable reaction, given that there was a perceived security threat in Pakistan.
But all you have to do is go back four months prior to the incident, when the infamous Mumbai attacks took place during the series between India and England. While two ODI’s were cancelled, the England team left and then returned a mere two weeks later to play the two test matches, albeit on changed venues. The instigators rampaged through Mumbai for four days, and yet the England team felt its safety was guaranteed only two weeks later, and they returned with a proud slogan that terrorists could not be allowed to win. Is it not hypocritical then that Pakistan was treated as a foster child, thrown back to a foster home? As lawyers, we urge and stress the rule of consistency in Courts and the right not to be discriminated against. Yet, the treatment against Pakistan was entirely unfair. Yet another recent example is India’s tour of England in 2011, when rioters had taken Birmingham by storm. Yet, the Edgbaston Test was played. No tour cancellation, no ban on England.
Since these times, Pakistan has been targeted again and again. No one can deny that the IPL, which may be more of a commercial extravaganza, is a great source of developing cricket. Since the Mumbai attacks, Pakistanis have not been allowed to participate in the IPL. Why? Because the Mumbai attacks were purportedly carried out by an organization backed by Pakistan. Even if that was true, which I will not debate upon, then why did India host a 3 match series with Pakistan in 2013-14? Where was the boycott then? Why is Wasim Akram operating as the bowling coach for one of the teams? Why is Shoaib Akhtar sitting alongside the clumsy Navjot Sidhu in TV shows? It is all a farce, with the aim of hurting Pakistani cricket long-term, just another covert battle in this war.
Some might say that the situation differs because the cricketers were attacked directly in Pakistan. More severe was the case where Monica Seles, a tennis great of her time, was stabbed by a fan in Hamburg, Germany. While she personally decided never to play in Germany again because the attacker was never convicted, there was no ban on sports in Germany. In 2009, a spectator ran onto the Court during the French Open final, and charged towards Roger Federer, trying to put a hat on him. Two years ago, another man ran onto the Court with a flare in his hands. As recently as this week, in the French Open, a young man ran onto the Center Court, reached Federer, put an arm around him and tried to snap ‘selfies’ with him, as security personnel just watched. These persons could well have been carrying pocketed knives or any other objects to hurt the players. Where are the boycotts? Where are the bans? I wonder what the result would have been had it been the Pakistan Open and not French Open.
It is unfathomable how cricketers do not visit Pakistan for fear of security, yet when you go to Islamabad, you can find foreign diplomats and nationals roaming about freely, with no ‘Presidential security’, and in many cases not even a single guard. If there really was such a massive security threat, where terrorists were just waiting for opportunities to kill purported ‘infidels’ or foreigners, then instead of Peshawar or Karachi, Islamabad would have been the red zone for these incidents. The Governments refuse to allow their cricketers to visit Pakistan, yet they have no qualms about keeping their embassies and High Commissions and offices and officers present in Pakistan.
We have been overly grateful to Zimbabwe for visiting Pakistan, for taking this immensely brave step. That is entirely appropriate. But there should be no doubts about one thing: none of the ‘bigger’ teams will visit Pakistan at any time in the near future. It is the agenda of the Big Three, it is the agenda of the BCCI, it is the agenda of the corners looking to further shackle Pakistan. Do not be surprised, that right before representatives of two other teams were to visit Pakistan to assess security conditions, an attempted suicide attack emerged.
Before the 2011 World Cup, Asif and Amir were banned for spot fixing. Before the 2015 World Cup, Saeed Ajmal was banned for an illegal action. Make no mistake, this narrative will repeat itself before each World Cup, till Pakistan cricket is lowered into its grave.