Ahmedabad or Bust!
By ManiaPak
February 14 2005
The run up to a high profile tour between two of the fiercest rivals in the world of sport is never going to be smooth sailing but with Pakistan vs India, there is often a lot more to consider than just the sporting aspects!
February 14 2005
The run up to a high profile tour between two of the fiercest rivals in the world of sport is never going to be smooth sailing but with Pakistan vs India, there is often a lot more to consider than just the sporting aspects!
We are barely a fortnight away from the time when Pakistan are scheduled to land in India and there is still uncertainty over the venues and nobody seems to have a clue whom has the television rights! A pure shambles if ever there was one but then again Pakistan is big business in India and everyone wants to have a piece of this cake! From the anti-Pakistan rhetoric which is often behind some of Bollywood’s biggest blockbusters to the preference of Wasim Akram as a mentor over Kapil Dev by Irfan Pathan, India has always been obsessed by Pakistan!
Despite the huge cash injection about to be received by the Indian economy with this Pakistan tour, there are still those who would rather Pakistan didn’t tour India at all. They come from the sizeable minority of Hindu/Sikh zealots who unrealistically want nothing to do with Pakistan in any way whatsoever.
Shiv Sena is chief amongst these protagonists and they seem to think they can achieve their aim by a bit of gardening whenever there is talk of a Pakistan match being played in India. Such is the venom in these Sainaks that they even dug up the pitch before an Pak-Indo seniors match played for charity.
This 2005 tour isn’t without its controvery either as the Sainaks have already attempted to plant a flower bed at Mohali and couldn’t manage to put up a greenhouse at Green Park because they were apprehended at the gates! This has led to a level of even more heightened security than usual for a Pakistani tour to India.
The Indian government feel that Pakistan is adding to the political tensions by not playing at Ahmedabad which was the scene of communal rioting in 2002! They seem to feel that Pakistan is making a big deal out of nothing but the communal rioting is something that Pakistani’s haven’t witnessed since they were last part of India, so for them it is a big deal. India has almost become blasé about its citizens taking to the streets to kill each other based only on their creed. They fail to see why the Muslim majority Pakistan would have a problem playing in a town which was the scene of a massacre of Muslims over a misunderstanding relating to an accidental train fire!
My personal view is that the BCCI should have known this might have been a problem and not scheduled Pakistan to play there. This is nothing like India’s reluctance to play in Peshawar or Karachi based on security concerns at all.
Given that the riots occurred barely 3 years ago, India should have realised that scheduling a match in Ahmedabad between Pakistan and India would be akin to throwing hot coals on a dying fire. India is perhaps the only country where supporting the wrong team at the wrong time will get you severely beaten and in some cases killed. We have all read about the various Indian Muslims who have been killed over the years for celebrating a Pakistan victory over India!
Can you imagine the repercussions of a huge Pakistani victory over India in Ahmedabad? I realise given the current state of the Pakistani cricket team this is highly unlikely versus India’s top quality batting line-up combined with their dangerous bowlers but imagine if it did happen. Could India guarantee that it wont result in the spilling of even one drop of blood? I wouldn’t put much stock in a guarantee like that because if history is anything to go by it could result in anything from a solitary beating to an all out riot and like the Pakistan team I wouldn’t wish to be caught in the middle of something like that either!
I agree that Pak-Indo relations need to be improved gradually and that cricket is the most likely vehicle for kick starting that but it will only work if both sides exercise tact and discretion. There was no need for India to schedule a test match at Ahmedabad when places like Chennai and Mumbai were without a test, it almost comes across as a ‘we dare you to say no’ sort of a gesture which if true is absolutely appalling.
For the sake of the inhabitants of Ahmedabad I hope that the test isn’t played there and if it is then I pray that everyone of every creed manages to enjoy it and no violence occurs nor blood is shed. If the only way to ensure no blood is shed is an Indian victory then I would concede the loss for the sake of peace. After all there are some things in life that will always be more important than cricket, chief amongst those would be life itself!
Despite the huge cash injection about to be received by the Indian economy with this Pakistan tour, there are still those who would rather Pakistan didn’t tour India at all. They come from the sizeable minority of Hindu/Sikh zealots who unrealistically want nothing to do with Pakistan in any way whatsoever.
Shiv Sena is chief amongst these protagonists and they seem to think they can achieve their aim by a bit of gardening whenever there is talk of a Pakistan match being played in India. Such is the venom in these Sainaks that they even dug up the pitch before an Pak-Indo seniors match played for charity.
This 2005 tour isn’t without its controvery either as the Sainaks have already attempted to plant a flower bed at Mohali and couldn’t manage to put up a greenhouse at Green Park because they were apprehended at the gates! This has led to a level of even more heightened security than usual for a Pakistani tour to India.
The Indian government feel that Pakistan is adding to the political tensions by not playing at Ahmedabad which was the scene of communal rioting in 2002! They seem to feel that Pakistan is making a big deal out of nothing but the communal rioting is something that Pakistani’s haven’t witnessed since they were last part of India, so for them it is a big deal. India has almost become blasé about its citizens taking to the streets to kill each other based only on their creed. They fail to see why the Muslim majority Pakistan would have a problem playing in a town which was the scene of a massacre of Muslims over a misunderstanding relating to an accidental train fire!
My personal view is that the BCCI should have known this might have been a problem and not scheduled Pakistan to play there. This is nothing like India’s reluctance to play in Peshawar or Karachi based on security concerns at all.
Given that the riots occurred barely 3 years ago, India should have realised that scheduling a match in Ahmedabad between Pakistan and India would be akin to throwing hot coals on a dying fire. India is perhaps the only country where supporting the wrong team at the wrong time will get you severely beaten and in some cases killed. We have all read about the various Indian Muslims who have been killed over the years for celebrating a Pakistan victory over India!
Can you imagine the repercussions of a huge Pakistani victory over India in Ahmedabad? I realise given the current state of the Pakistani cricket team this is highly unlikely versus India’s top quality batting line-up combined with their dangerous bowlers but imagine if it did happen. Could India guarantee that it wont result in the spilling of even one drop of blood? I wouldn’t put much stock in a guarantee like that because if history is anything to go by it could result in anything from a solitary beating to an all out riot and like the Pakistan team I wouldn’t wish to be caught in the middle of something like that either!
I agree that Pak-Indo relations need to be improved gradually and that cricket is the most likely vehicle for kick starting that but it will only work if both sides exercise tact and discretion. There was no need for India to schedule a test match at Ahmedabad when places like Chennai and Mumbai were without a test, it almost comes across as a ‘we dare you to say no’ sort of a gesture which if true is absolutely appalling.
For the sake of the inhabitants of Ahmedabad I hope that the test isn’t played there and if it is then I pray that everyone of every creed manages to enjoy it and no violence occurs nor blood is shed. If the only way to ensure no blood is shed is an Indian victory then I would concede the loss for the sake of peace. After all there are some things in life that will always be more important than cricket, chief amongst those would be life itself!
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