© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
So, Pakistan are the new world champions of T20 cricket (or chaddi cricket, as my friend & co-blogger Varun would call it).
Did they deserve to win? I think they did, despite my being an Indian who would be the most unlikely supporter of anything Pakistani. Though I can also have a last laugh by saying in the same breath that India beat Pakistan in this very World Cup even before the first official ball was bowled in the championship. So, we’ve vanquished the eventual victors, and by that very logic are better than them. However, I do not wish to steal their thunder, and for once I will applaud them for their achievement.
The pre-tournament favourites for me were South Africa, Sri Lanka and India (not necessarily in the same order). However, there were other teams who gave two hoots to what I thought and came to the party. Both West Indies & Pakistan showed that they were hungry and ready to play big daddy. Amongst the early favourites, the South Africans did reach the semis but choked at that stage as they so often do (maybe they should get an automatic bypass to the finals the next time they qualify for finals in a championship, and then maybe they can lift a cup). Both Australia (who weren’t in anybody’s reckoning despite being the best team otherwise – I know I am playing with peril by saying this, but no arguments please) & India (the defending champs) withered away in the early stages to set up the final clash between Sri Lanka & Pakistan. Finally, the champion is a country that didn’t just deserve to win; it ‘needed’ to win badly.
The two finalists were nations whose cricketing destiny seems to be intertwined ever since the terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore on 4th of March, 2009. Pakistan has been the pariah of cricket ever since. That they have been reduced to becoming touring cricketers, who are now forced to embark on a journey every time they want to play international cricket, since no nation wants to tour the terror-ridden Pakistan, has meant that they’ve not had too much going for them for some time now. They did need something to revive them, and for sure this victory is going to do wonders to the sport and the general feel-good factor in the country.
Sports has a way of creating a mood across any nation, and it finally reflects in the economy & general behavior of people. Is it because the people are generally happy after the victory, prone to partying & spending on self, family & friends? Or is it merely coincidental? Historic evidence suggests that every time Brazil has won the football world cup, their economy has received a huge boost. Indian cricket (and Indian confidence) really started looking up post the 1983 world cup win. When Italy won the FIFA Cup in 2006, for months it seemed that the nation was forever in a celebratory mood, and the economy went into 5th gear. Since it has happened so many times to so many nations, it can’t just be written off as a coincident. And I do hope this victory does something similar to Pakistan – they really need to have something to rejoice about. They need to come out of their closet and become a part of the developing world where terrorism has no place. They need to bask in the glory of what they have achieved, and not bicker over what was never theirs. They need to shun violence & hatred, and embrace friendship & goodwill towards others. They need to be seen as people who one can be friends with. History has given Pakistan an opportunity, and as a neighbour I do hope they grab this one.
Showing posts with label Pakistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pakistan. Show all posts
Monday, June 22, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Sri Lankan cricketers are safe; sadly, we can't say the same for the state of Pakistan
Yesterday, in Lahore, The Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked by gun-yielding, and even rocket-launcher equipped terrorists, and many players were injured in the attack. That they are all out of danger and safely back in their own country is a relief, to say the very least.
This attack once again reminded me of precisely what I, and many others, have been saying for the past so many years. Pakistan is a safe haven for terrorists, and they have produced a Frankenstein that they no longer control. Without an argument, the terrorists are a creation of the state and have always been given all the monetary, military and political support they needed to create mayhem in India. Now, as was witnessed very recently through the large celebrations & public display of arms by the Taliban in the Swat Valley post Sharia law being allowed there, the radicals want much more power and wish to control everything in Pakistan, much on the same lines as they did in Afghanistan till a few years ago.
The tentacles of terror have truly gone beyond their maker's control (the Pakistani politicians, army and ISI) and are now deliberately attacking civilians, and even foreigners and teams on a goodwill mission to Pakistan, to spread their awe & fear. The September 2008 Marriott attack in Islamabad was a grim example of the same, and even yesterday’s attack was aimed at bringing their power & capabilities to international notice – much like the US 9/11 and the Mumbai attacks.
There were many knee-jerk reactions in Pakistan to these attacks to absolve themselves of the blame. These ranged from – this is a work of RAW; after all Sonia Gandhi promised retribution for 26/11. Another being – this is the LTTE striking with vengeance as a last hurrah in their fight against the Sri Lankan army. I, for one, do not believe this at all. And there are many reasons for the same.
12 heavily armed terrorists attacked the team bus, being escorted by 6 policemen. All the policemen were killed and all the terrorists got away unharmed and escaped being captured. Wow!
How could the terrorists manage this feat, especially given the fact that the bus route to the stadium was changed at the last minute due to security concerns, and nobody but the police were supposed to know the route. The only sound logical reason that comes to my mind is that the terrorists were Pakistani insiders, possibly policemen/ISI men themselves rather than radical terrorists, who staged this to create an impression that Pakistan is itself a victim, and not a perpetrator, of such attacks. If the RAW or the LTTE did it, they would surely not know of the last minute change in route, and would not have been able to strike. Even if they managed to do so somehow, they would certainly have been captured or killed by the Pakistani forces – goddamn, at least 1 out of the 12 could have met that fate. That this did not happen, is proof enough of the complicity of the authorities running the show there.
Anyhow, the purpose of this piece is not to defend our nation or the LTTE against the blame, or to fault Pakistan. I write this as a grim reminder of what is our fate, if such terrorists were allowed to take center-stage in Pakistan. They have no love for our nation, and I dread the day the nuclear option against India will cease to be an “option” and will become an “opportunity” in Pakistan. For that very reason, we have to continue applying international pressure on Pakistan to fight this menace. And yet, howsoever much we may not want to do so, somehow help them combat this terror. It might be their creation which is hurting them now, but it is our neighbour’s house collapsing that will take our own home with it as it falls. Difficult thought to digest, but a bitter pill that I fear we will have to swallow.
This attack once again reminded me of precisely what I, and many others, have been saying for the past so many years. Pakistan is a safe haven for terrorists, and they have produced a Frankenstein that they no longer control. Without an argument, the terrorists are a creation of the state and have always been given all the monetary, military and political support they needed to create mayhem in India. Now, as was witnessed very recently through the large celebrations & public display of arms by the Taliban in the Swat Valley post Sharia law being allowed there, the radicals want much more power and wish to control everything in Pakistan, much on the same lines as they did in Afghanistan till a few years ago.
The tentacles of terror have truly gone beyond their maker's control (the Pakistani politicians, army and ISI) and are now deliberately attacking civilians, and even foreigners and teams on a goodwill mission to Pakistan, to spread their awe & fear. The September 2008 Marriott attack in Islamabad was a grim example of the same, and even yesterday’s attack was aimed at bringing their power & capabilities to international notice – much like the US 9/11 and the Mumbai attacks.
There were many knee-jerk reactions in Pakistan to these attacks to absolve themselves of the blame. These ranged from – this is a work of RAW; after all Sonia Gandhi promised retribution for 26/11. Another being – this is the LTTE striking with vengeance as a last hurrah in their fight against the Sri Lankan army. I, for one, do not believe this at all. And there are many reasons for the same.
12 heavily armed terrorists attacked the team bus, being escorted by 6 policemen. All the policemen were killed and all the terrorists got away unharmed and escaped being captured. Wow!
How could the terrorists manage this feat, especially given the fact that the bus route to the stadium was changed at the last minute due to security concerns, and nobody but the police were supposed to know the route. The only sound logical reason that comes to my mind is that the terrorists were Pakistani insiders, possibly policemen/ISI men themselves rather than radical terrorists, who staged this to create an impression that Pakistan is itself a victim, and not a perpetrator, of such attacks. If the RAW or the LTTE did it, they would surely not know of the last minute change in route, and would not have been able to strike. Even if they managed to do so somehow, they would certainly have been captured or killed by the Pakistani forces – goddamn, at least 1 out of the 12 could have met that fate. That this did not happen, is proof enough of the complicity of the authorities running the show there.
Anyhow, the purpose of this piece is not to defend our nation or the LTTE against the blame, or to fault Pakistan. I write this as a grim reminder of what is our fate, if such terrorists were allowed to take center-stage in Pakistan. They have no love for our nation, and I dread the day the nuclear option against India will cease to be an “option” and will become an “opportunity” in Pakistan. For that very reason, we have to continue applying international pressure on Pakistan to fight this menace. And yet, howsoever much we may not want to do so, somehow help them combat this terror. It might be their creation which is hurting them now, but it is our neighbour’s house collapsing that will take our own home with it as it falls. Difficult thought to digest, but a bitter pill that I fear we will have to swallow.
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