Last week our Prime Minister wrote a thank you letter to the President of Zimbabwe for sending their cricket team to play in Pakistan.
What I don’t understand is why he is so slow in all important state activities? The team left for home after the cricket series about three weeks ago. For all intent and purpose the letter should have been written even before the cricket team had reached their homeland.
Well this is a never ending issue; I know there is no point in cribbing over the activities of these politicians.
I want to ask cricket fans: how were the matches? Did you enjoy? I am sure it was fun to watch your cricket stadium bloom again with cheers, songs, and commentary. I am sure it must have been thrilling to see the Pakistani flags waving in the air. The competition was tough in some matches, while in others it was all very predictable.
I wonder if during the matches you ever thought about the possibility of a terrorist attack.
I am sure you would have, it’s impossible for anyone these days not to have this thought at least once, when one is in the market.
Did you hear the blast which was said to be the explosion of a transformer? Well it was not a transformer; it was a blast which was covered up only to keep you entertained, main the respect of the state and to save your lives. As we are a nation of impatient people, who have not learned how to walk in a line, follow emergency rules (even the educated and elite class), and last but not the least how to deal with tragic situations despite having fought a war on terror for the last 13 years.
By 3 a.m. online news editions broke the news that the explosion was a terrorist act; and the Minister for Information Pervez Rashid confirmed it. As always, social media went into fits of cribbing. People were more concerned about the fact that there won’t be any more cricket in Pakistan; and then there were those who blamed the security officers for always leaving loopholes due to which we suffer.
As I watched this whining on the social media, I wondered if they knew that the explosion had killed a warden and two civilians. Did they know that the warden had kids, too? If they had and were to still enjoying the game as they wanted, it was because of those wardens and policemen who were there to guard the area.
Have you ever thought that those standing to guard our lives in the scorching heat of the day and cold of the night have their likes and wishes too? But they are doing their duty just so that you can enjoy life during times of war, too. We can see attacks which take place but have you praised them for all the attacks that they have stopped? We don’t even know how many have lost their limbs or even lives while cutting that one wire ‘hot’ while defusing a bomb.
The other day I went to the Pakistan International Mountain Film Festival at Alhamra Lahore. There was the usual security with three tier check posts, and I not only willingly cooperated with the staff, but also chitchatted with them, just to make them feel respected and a part of us.
It takes just a smile and a greeting to make them feel better under the blazing sun. It was a very hot day and I drank nearly two liters of water, yet by the time I reached home I was dehydrated; I wonder how they did their work the next day, too. I have no words to thank them for providing everyone at the festival with security.
Yet we are a nation of thankless people; and just as it takes our leadership time to wake up from their slumber, we lie in wait for something to happen so that we can beat the drum, and not bother to say anything about the many times nothing happened because someone was on duty and awake!