More Pak-India friction
Finally Pakistan and India have agreed to play a cricket series in Sri Lanka. The Indian position has become so provocative that it does not even bother to offer explanations anymore. It’s decision not to play in the UAE, for example, where Pakistan has hosted numerous teams since the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March ’09. The excuse, that “we prefer playing in India”, made little sense and seems even stranger now that they are fine with Sri Lanka. Pakistan, too, dragged the decision all the way to the prime minister’s office. As a result cricket has, once again, become politicised.
Pakistan’s decision not to play in India, where the security situation is a clear cause for concern, is understandable. The Indian government has not helped by allowing growing anti-Pakistan sentiment to go unnoticed. New Delhi remained silent as Pakistani dignitaries continued to be harassed and insulted in India. Shiv Sena has a history of disrupting Pak-India series – causing cancellation of Pakistan’s ’91 and 2000 tours. Unless the temperature improves, Pakistan should not allow the national outfit to travel to India.
Cricket has often been used as a tool in Pak-India diplomacy, but mostly it has been leveraged for ice-breaking purposes, not to increase tensions. Gen Zia’s famous ‘cricket diplomacy’ tour in ’87 helped cool down Cold War tensions. Gen Musharraf’s ’05 visit even led to momentum on Kashmir. And PM Gilani’s ’11 World Cup meeting with Manmohan Singh restored a degree of normalcy after the ’08 Mumbai attack freeze. Now, sadly, cricket is just one more front where Pakistan and India are at loggerheads. Among other things, this needless friction will put unnecessary burden on the players as they prepare for their first head-to-head since ’07. Hopefully wiser heads will prevail and cricket will be allowed to bring the two countries together, not push them further apart.
