The day after
Once the dust settles after the PSL final – hopefully after a good, safe showing today – some questions will need honest answers. What do we really show the world, for example, when the army has to be deployed, gas is cut off to entire neighbourhoods and then those neighbourhoods are cut off from the city, to hold what is, technically, not more than a club match? Do we project an image of a Pakistan safe enough to hold international sports, or one not safe enough?
Word is, if the press is to be trusted, that the call for Lahore came from the PM himself – after a lot of convincing from the people he’s filled the PCB with, of course. But with such huge security expenses going into the match, especially after all big international names have pulled out, perhaps there’s a delayed realisation that they got ahead of themselves in the heat of the moment, and the opportunity cost of bringing the entire city to a standstill is proving too much. Not to mention, of course, the rationale of five-tier security for second-tier outfits. Once the fanfare subsides, some explanations should be forthcoming.
