Revival of international cricket — a welcome sign

ISLAMABAD: Terrorism and extremism can be defeated through sports but the cricketing world did not do justice with Pakistan when it abandoned playing cricket in Pakistan, after 2009 unfortunate incident with the Sri-Lankan team in Lahore. In a way the world sided with the terrorists’ mindset, whose aim was to defeat sports through terrorism.
Thus, Pakistan became the victim of terrorism when it lost cricket on its home soil. We also failed on the diplomatic front in pursuing different governments to help us in the revival of the game.
Our leaders hardly raised this issue at any world forum and considered it merely a cricketing issue whereas it was a political and diplomatic issue. Thank you Zimbabwe for visiting us to revive international cricket in Pakistan.
If you watch the rise of Pashtoon cricketers of international stature from the worst affected areas of terrorism after 9/11, you will find how these people challenged the terror and became good cricketers.
The word ‘Khan’ has become suspicious in the American eyes after 9/11 and a ‘Khan’ would either find it difficult to get the US visa but the “Khans” have produced one of the best cricketers in recent time.
One understands the concern of Zimbabwe after an unfortunate incident in Karachi a few days back. They rightly reviewed the situation but we are all glad they finally decided to come. Now it is our responsibility as a host to look after them and welcome them. Yes, terrorism is a big issue but the fact remains that except one unfortunate incident in 2009 there was not a single incident in which sportsmen were targeted. People should also go to the stadium and welcome the Zimbabweans for their initiative. It’s not only a cricket series but also test for our diplomacy, in which we had failed in the past.
Only two months back when our ‘92 world cup hero, Imran Khan, now a leading politician, invited Pakistani players for a friendly match a capacity crowd watched it. Today there are dozens of promising cricketers in the line-up belonging to the area most affected by terrorism.
In this regard, one may also welcome the decision of Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for giving “green signal” for the revival of cricket between the two cricket-crazy nations.
Though it is still a dream to see India tour Pakistan and play before a capacity crowd, the revival of full series in UAE in December this year, is nevertheless a big news, provided political considerations and negative media propaganda do not create hurdles. One also hopes to see Bangladesh visit Pakistan in August, particularly after their excellent performance at home against us in One Day and T-20 matches, which they won. All these are good signs and people will get a chance to see on their television screen battle between ‘bat and ball’ instead of ‘bullets and bodies’. Diplomatic efforts are needed to revive international sports in Pakistan. Leaving political differences aside, Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, a cricket fan, can use the services of the main opposition leader, Imran Khan, to invite more teams to Pakistan.
Since cricket boards are hostage to political decisions of their respective governments, it would be useful idea to have a “sports desk” in the Foreign Office. In the recent past we have seen how the government refused to send their teams even when the cricket boards had cleared the visits. It has happened in case of India time and again and also when Bangladesh refused to visit Pakistan. Former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee once said: “cricket and politics are two different things and should not be mixed up.” Yet, India made cricket “hostage” to politics and deprived millions of watching exciting series for almost 17 years. Such events can be used as ‘way forward’ on diplomatic front and in defusing tension as well as defeating terrorism and extremism, as Pakistan did in 1999 when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his second term gave “go ahead” to Pakistani team despite threats from the Hindu extremists, who had “damaged” the pitch in New Delhi weeks before the tour.
Terrorism needs to be defeated through sports too. Who knows it better than Sri Lanka, who visited Pakistan in 2009, how Pakistan helped them in the fight against terrorism. Bangladesh, despite hostility, knows how Pakistan helped them in getting the test status. So, it is time the cricketing world helped Pakistan, not only in the revival of international cricket and sports but also in defeating terrorism and extremism through sports.
The writer is a senior columnist and analyst of GEO, The News and Jang.