An Idiotic Move to Stop the Game

Aasef Chauhdry

It was a bright morning of March 3, 2009 when Sri Lankan cricket team was on its way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for the third day of the second Test on March 3, 2009, when a sudden fire was opened and the grenades were hurled at their bus, killing eight people. The match was abandoned, Sri Lanka left the country and other international teams, already reluctant to tour Pakistan because of security concerns in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in the US, refused even to consider touring. Ever since then, Pakistan is playing its “home” matches in the United Arab Emirates, and none of the efforts of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to lure overseas teams back have paid off. The PCB has made repeated efforts to convince teams to tour, but even lowly Bangladesh refused to come after twice initially agreeing to limited over series last year. Amidst this all, the Zimbabwean stood tall by rejecting and ignoring all sorts of international pressures and decided to visit Pakistan. They landed and they played. No matter they lost most of the matches but they certainly won the Pakistani hearts and emerged as the winners at the end of the days. When their captain was asked as to why despite all the threats, dangers and hazards they decided to play in Pakistan? He made a brief but jolting reply, “We know what the isolation is.”

Unfortunately, when the incident was investigated, all the trails were leading towards the Indian involvement. The attackers, fired indiscriminately and then fled, leaving back ammunition bags and weapons. The bags of ammunition left in front of Al-Fatah store in neighborhood of Gulberg included 84mm Carl Gustav recoilless rifles, controversially a standard issue weapon to the Indian Army, a weapon not typically found with the Taliban. Carl Gustav is of Swedish origin and exported to the Indian army and never exported to the Mujahedeen. RPG-22 rocket propelled anti-tank grenades; another standard issue for the Indian Special Forces (and another weapon less typical for the Taliban who more typically prefer RPG-7s) was also used. At that time the defense analysts pointed out without any hesitation that the choice of weapons as well as other evidence clearly indicated India’s hand in that heinous attack.  Neither was that the first time that the Indians under the RAW umbrella did not endeavor to malign Pakistan nor did India stopped its dirty games to spoil Pakistan’s peaceful image in the years to come. The Indians didn’t spare even other international cricketers of the fame.

It was probably the first week of January 2010 when a story, made the headlines in Indian and international newspapers. It was about Chris Cairns who announced his intentions to sue the Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi for making derogatory comments against the legendry New Zealander in relation to the IPL’s decision to withdraw Cairns’ name from the initial list of potential players. It’s a world known fact that Chris was suspended by his franchise Chandigarh Lions on disciplinary grounds and that was for nothing else but for the reason that he didn’t reveal that he had an injury. The story was bent and buckled by few tabloid newspapers and channels that started reporting it as an outcome of some match fixing crime and with this hazy and far-fetched media stuff available the Indian Bully Boy, Lalit Modi leveled the allegation against the second generation all-rounder of the New Zealand cricket. That childish act of Modi made Chris think to sue him.

The Indian cricket is in shambles. What all so called fake respect and reputation they have gained is through under hand methods and the kind courtesy of RAW. Shane Watson reported sometime back that twice he was approached by an illegal Indian bookmaker in England last year. Watson and his team-mate Brad Haddin confirmed they were spoken to by the Indian man during the tour and immediately told Australia’s manager Steve Bernard. Not only this, the speeder Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson were also approached during the England tour. Bernard has referred two other bookie-instigated conversations to the ICC during his term as manager.

Almost six years back a story of taking money by the Pakistani cricketers hit the British tabloid and the India media. The world saw some masked face handing over the money and someone accepting it. The fact is that no one has seen players taking the money. Well if this ‘sensational scene’ could be filmed then what stopped Mr. James Bond of the News of the World from making videos of money going into the ‘rightful hands’? As some paper rightly said that the allegation of match-fixing against Pakistani cricket team could be a part of greater Psy-ops against Pakistan to de-moralize the trodden Pakistani nation in which some of Asian and western well-wishers of Pakistan could be involved.

And now the shocking disclosure is made by the Punjab Home Minister Shuja Khanzada who disclosed it to the members of the Punjab Assembly that Indian intelligence agency RAW sent a text message to the manger of Zimbabwean cricket team in Dubai threatening them with “possibility of terrorism in Pakistan and cancellation of tour”. He said the message received by the team manager was finally tracked down and it was found that it had come from New Delhi and that RAW was behind this conspiracy to malign Pakistan. It leaves no doubt that India wanted the Pak-Zimbabwean cricket series to be cancelled so that Pakistan’s image could be tarnished but all-out security was assured to the Zimbabwean cricket team to foil nefarious designs of India. Col (r) Shuja Khanzada claimed the involvement of Indian Intelligence Agency (RAW) in 90 percent of terrorist attacks in Pakistan and like most of the people was pretty sure that the RAW is involved in sending threatening SMS to Zimbabwe Cricket Team’s Manager to stop the tour to Pakistan as well.

It is learnt that when the Zimbabwe Cricket Team was moving to Pakistan from Dubai Airport, its manager received a SMS from unknown person in which they were threatened to behead in Pakistan on the same pattern of Daash (ISIS). However, during the investigations by the Pakistani agencies, it was confirmed that such life threatening SMS to the manager was sent by RAW from New Delhi, India. The irony is that we have a large number of Indian well-wishers in our ranks and files. There are people who are at the helm of the fare in the PCCB and they are a step ahead than RAW in stabbing the back of Pakistan cricket. But what the Indians, RAW and their Pakistani paid agents are forgetting is that every dog has a day. Their nefarious acts and efforts will go in vane and they will lick the dust soon. Seeing the Zimbabwean squad’s courage, other teams have also got motivated and Sri Lanka, Ireland and Bangladesh are expected to visit Pakistan and play some thrilling cricket.