Opinion Not quite cricket
As someone who has no interest in cricket (not even 20/20) I find myself in the bewildering position this week of having to write about...
As someone who has no interest in cricket (not even 20/20) I find myself in the bewildering position this week of having to write about it,albeit tangentially,because suddenly it is more than just a game. Let me begin by confessing that I did not notice the IPL (Indian Premier League) cricketers auction until I heard an assortment of Pakistanis hurling abuse at us from across the border. Every time I turned on my television someone new popped up. Cricketers,ex-cricketers,artists,politicians,political analysts,sports commentators and ministers of Mr Zardaris government. Some clothed their rage in delicate Urdu words. Others made no attempt to hide their fury at being insulted by India.
By India? By India? How does India get involved at all? Our dainty Minister of External Affairs,who really must learn to be more forceful,explained daintily that the Government of India had nothing to do with the IPL. Surely that should not need clarification but Pakistani officials remained unconvinced. They threatened revenge. Indians would in future be treated badly in Pakistan,they said,and Bollywood movies would be stopped at the border. This last measure will make no difference since the bazaars of Lahore and Karachi are awash with pirated copies of Indian movies. In any case,who cares if they watch our films or not. What we should care about is the veiled menace in the Pakistani PMs announcement that he was in no position to prevent another 26/11.
He explained that since he was so useless a PM that he could not prevent his own people from being attacked by Islamist loonies,how could he guarantee the safety of Indians. Now this is the point when sabre-rattling stops being sabre-rattling and becomes an invitation to war. The American Defence Secretary has already said that if there is another 26/11 type attack on Indian soil,there is every likelihood that there will be war. It is perhaps time for our PM to get on the hotline to Islamabad and warn Mr Gilani that we see his statement as a signal to the Lashkar-e-Toiba to go into action.
Was it just coincidence that within minutes of Mr Gilanis announcement came the Home Ministry warning of the possibility of an Indian commercial plane being hijacked? All in all it is hard to think of a week since 26/11 in which our fragile relations with Pakistan deteriorated more swiftly than the one just ended. It proves that we have a long way to go before we can start thinking about a new dialogue. What can we possibly talk about if the IPL can bring us to the edge of open hostilities?
From my limited acquaintances in the world of cricket,I have gleaned that the primary reason why the Pakistani cricketers did not attract bids from people like Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta was security. Since 26/11,Pakistanis have become unpopular even with Indians who rarely think of Pakistan. Not just because of the horror of what happened in Mumbai but because of the reaction of Pakistani officials and military men. They have behavedand continue to behaveas if what happened in Mumbai was just another act of terrorism. Look how many we face every day,they whine,look at the bombs and suicide bombers that explode all the time in Pakistani cities. This kind of response makes the mildest,most peaceable Indians very angry because they know that terrorism in Pakistan cannot be compared to what happened in Mumbai.
Pakistan is facing terrorist attacks by Pakistanis who were till not long ago protégés of the Pakistani state. If they have suddenly turned on those who nurtured them this cannot be blamed on India. Pakistanis should question their own government about why Islamist lunatics were bred and trained in the first place. And,ask why these groups are suddenly out of control. Mumbai was another story altogether. This city was attacked by Pakistanis who seemed less bothered about Kashmir than about breaking the economic back of our commercial capital. The last words that the Pakistani controller said to the last surviving terrorist in the Oberoi Hotel on his cell phone were we must create an atmosphere of fear,we must make them remember the fear.
The fear has gone and Mumbai has got on with the business of living but nobody has forgotten what happened or failed to notice that the guilty remain unpunished. The Indian government is right to repeat ad nauseum that it cannot begin to talk about peace until the men responsible for 26/11 are seen to be punished. The fuss over the IPL auction confirms that there is little to talk about yet.
• Last weeks Fifth Column carried the suggestion that Shashi Tharoor misused the Ministry of External Affairs to sell his books through Indian Embassies. The Minister denies this and clarifies that he paid his own bills when he stayed at the Taj Hotel.
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