Why India should refuse cricket series with Pakistan

Indo-Pak relations have seen many ups and downs, but this shouldn’t be mixed with sports.

- Shahryar Khan, Pakistan Cricket Board Chief

Really, Mr Khan?

Pakistan cricket is virtually dying and Shahryar Khan is desperately seeking BCCI’s intervention to revive it. And glibly, he has offered to "share revenue" (bribe?) should India and Pakistan play at UAE - but neither in India and definitely not in Pakistan.

When Islamabad does not care about hundreds of Indians dying in Pakistani-state sponsored terror, then why should BCCI be desperate to revive the fortunes of Pakistani cricket? Will it generate goodwill?

Cricket series between India and Pakistan were first stopped after our neighbour stabbed us in the back in Kargil in the wake of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s historic Lahore bus journey. Then despite the attack on the Parliament and the ten-month stand-off between the two armies, tournaments were revived in 2004. Incidentally, the same two sporting honchos were at the helm of affairs then – Shahryar Khan in PCB and Jagmohan Dalmiya in BCCI. But did it stop the Pakistani state from sponsoring more terror attacks in India?

No! Whether it was a string of dastardly attacks along the Mumbai local network in 2006 or subsequent ones in several other parts of the country, the nation watched in stunned silence as the Pakistan army dispatched a team to Mumbai. Not to play cricket, but to unleash the worst mayhem during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.

Cricket ties came to a standstill once again. So shocked was the nation that every politician worth his salt screamed from the rooftops that Pakistan cannot send one team of 11 with cricket bats and another with AK-47 rifles, grenades and ammunition to kill innocent Indians. Yet barely four years later, India and Pakistan played what was not a full-fledged series but a truncated one as an ice breaker — three One Day international and two T20 matches in India. Since terrorists attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team at Lahore in March 2009, absolutely no team wants to play Pakistan in Pakistan.

But did Pakistan learn a lesson? No! Designated global terrorist Hafiz Saeed continues to spew venom against India in his home country. Not only does he break bread during Iftaar at the Army headquarters, but has also led the Eid namaz at Gaddafi stadium in Lahore. Worse, instead of honouring its commitment to India and proceeding against Hafiz Saeed, Pakistan has also released Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Lashkar-e-Taiba’s second in command in the 26/11 terror trial. He is out on bail after the Pakistani state presented a weak case against him in court.

Now cricketing ties with Pakistan should not be resumed just because Pakistan may, at a later state, put Lakhvi back in jail. India should not lower the bar. There is evidence of state sponsorship in the 26/11 case and India should insist on action against Hafiz Saeed before agreeing to let Pakistan off the hook.

So, where does cricket fit in to all of this? Sports has been a part of diplomacy world over. We are well aware of US not participating in 1980 Moscow Olympics due to their unsavory diplomatic ties and the cricket boycott South Africa faced during the apartheid.

Terror that kills innocent Indians is as bad if not worse than apartheid. Pakistan is a state sponsor of terror and continues to launch terrorists into India and target Indian interests in Afghanistan. There has been no change of heart in the Pakistani establishment even after almost 150 Pakistani Army schoolchildren were massacred in Peshawar by terrorists once trained and armed by the Pakistan army.

RK Singh, member of Parliament from Aarah in Bihar and former Union home secretary, raised the issue in Lok Sabha and rightly so when he said a country which is giving shelter to terrorists who have carried out bomb attacks and terror strikes in India, what is the point of playing with them.

Singh is spot on. Why play with a country that kills your people and will continue to do so in the times to come. We have seen in the past playing with Pakistan has not stopped terror attacks but not playing with Pakistan hurts them. So ignore Pakistan till the time they learn terror does not pay.

Begin with cricket, if Pakistan does not learn its lesson, then gradually extend it to other fields - first other sports and then cultural exchanges. And then keep it strictly bilateral. If our actors and singers are unwelcome in Pakistan, we should please reciprocate in kind.

Singh must raise this issue with Amit Shah, Arun Jaitley and Anurag Thakur, who wear multiple hats, to take the right decision and not let the nation down.