Terror against sport in an unravelling nation
Columnist By Geoff Lawson, 4 Mar 2009 Geoff Lawson is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Cricket, Geoff Lawson, Pakistan, security, Sri Lanka
I was awoken rudely by the telephone at 6am Johannesburg time on Tuesday morning. Partially conscious and about to curse the hotel staff for an incorrect wake up time, it took a few moments to come to terms with the reality of the news that was being delivered.
I simply did not want to believe that anyone, let alone an international cricket team, could be so brazenly attacked.
It was not just the magnitude of the event, in itself horrendous, but also the fact that I was very familiar with the location and surroundings where the terrorists chose to bombard innocent policemen and cricket staff.
The Liberty roundabout is a junction on the Gulberg Main Boulevarde and the branch street that leads one way to Gaddafi Stadium and the other into Liberty market and onwards to MM Allam Road, where Lahore’s finest restaurants and cafes reside. The Main Boulevarde is wide, four lanes either way, which fits about seven cars usually across those four, with planted palm and manicured lawn separating motor vehicles and pedestrians.
The roundabout is wide and speed through it is often excessive (outside of peak hour when it crawls).
I had my first traffic accident in Lahore on the very spot on which the armed lunatics fired rockets, bullets and grenades at the cricket convoy. There were no injuries, just a scratch on Shoaib Malik’s second car.
People were killed in this scrape; innocent poorly paid, hard working policemen and soldiers with wives and families.
Luckily (or was it because the security was up to standard) no players or officials were killed. The injuries were caused by flying glass rather than flying lead.
The shock is still with me as I write this some fourteen hours later.
The chances of international cricket being played in Pakistan have been slim for quite a while.
Australia have not toured for ten years, and it may be another ten or perhaps twenty before they do so again.
The Champions Trophy will go elsewhere, but surely not to Sri Lanka where the LTTE have not finished their terror attacks in the twenty year civil war .
The 2011 World Cup is scheduled for Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Each one of those countries has civil unrest and terror alerts of a substantial nature.
Cricket Australia have bravely decided to continue with the ODI series in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but is anywhere really safe from terrorists? Certainly New York and London have not been so in the twenty-first century.
The game of cricket can be – and has been – a vehicle for bringing people and nations together. We cannot let lunatics wear that away.
The nation of Pakistan is in turmoil at the present with a weak minority government that lacks resolve and ability. The events of Tuesday will serve only to unravel the frame of the nation even more.
I feel for the cricketers, the fans, and the officials who have been attacked and scared. I feel for all my friends in Pakistan.
I hope they are safe and well.
This is not what our sport is supposed to be about.
I look forward to a group claiming responsibility for this attack so we will know what motives could possibly lie behind this terror against sport.
==
Geoff Lawson was recently the national cricket coach of Pakistan and is a former Australian Test cricketer. He has previously written on life in Pakistan cricket.
Recommend this story.
- Explore:
- Cricket, Geoff Lawson, Pakistan, security, Sri Lanka
March 4th 2009 @ 1:01pm
Michael C said | March 4th 2009 @ 1:01pm | Report comment
Forget the petty point scoring and “I told you so” carry on.
The bigger issue here is the future of the nation of Pakistan. Has it the strength to withstand the pressures upon it. Remember, the capital ISlamabad is only a few hundred kilometers from the North West frontier province. The Swat Valley recently saw the Govt allow them to institute Sharia law in exchange for laying down their arms (for how long!!!).
Sadly again, we’ve seen a minister in Pakistan blame these attacks on India, trying to discredit Pakistan.
That implies an escape clause to justify in-action.
March 4th 2009 @ 2:17pm
aLi said | March 4th 2009 @ 2:17pm | Report comment
No need for Henry to ‘apologise’ he was merely echoing what most of the people percieved at the time. I myself had written on the fact that ECB is showing double standards in agreeing to continue their tour of India after the Mumbai attacks. However I stand corrected, it just goes to show the anarchy that reigns in Pakistan at the moment.
Regarding Imran Khans comments, If I push myself really hard maybe I can see the silver lineing in the form of a forceful condemnation in Pakistan by the masses, i,e fanatics loosing their sympthay vote with the improvished
March 4th 2009 @ 3:29pm
Westy said | March 4th 2009 @ 3:29pm | Report comment
As i have said on another thread we should wait until we find out who was behind these attacks. Nor should we ever forget the ordinary policeman some armed only with hand pistols who stood their ground protecting foreigners and paid for it. Their sarcrafice provides the hope we seek.
March 4th 2009 @ 3:57pm
cosmos forever said | March 4th 2009 @ 3:57pm | Report comment
In the end we just have another unwarranted pre-conception to throw in the bin. Started with – the US will never see a terrorist attack (by foreigners) on it’s soil, moved on to terrorist attacks like 911 don’t happen in our region or to our people (changed by the Bali bombing) and now – sport is immune from terrorist targeting.
Quite simply the activity of militant organisations is played out in a very different and more overt way now compared to a decade ago and security decisions about any high-profile event with connections to a disaffected group need to be made and implemented with the expectation that something could happen.
Sad but true.
Sincere commiseration’s to the Pakistani’s, Sri Lankan’s and others affected by this (one of many and one of many more to come) terrorist action.
March 4th 2009 @ 4:05pm
Westy said | March 4th 2009 @ 4:05pm | Report comment
Cosmos forever but we will keep playing cricket
March 4th 2009 @ 7:54pm
OldManEmu said | March 4th 2009 @ 7:54pm | Report comment
Henry you have my deepsest sympathy for the turmoil you must be experiencing at the minute. Your previously expressed views while not popular were genuinely held, and in the cold light of the day objectively true, but of course hindsight has twenty/twenty vision.
I will never forget that Sarah Fitzgerald played a squash tournament in Qatar two weeks after 11 September 2001.
March 4th 2009 @ 8:56pm
Greg said | March 4th 2009 @ 8:56pm | Report comment
Well said Henry. Our thoughts are with all those closely affected, including yourself having friends in Pakistan. Those urging an apology from you are sick in the head. The fact is we all want to believe we are safe from terrorism, and the fact is we are not. But we have to live our lives, and cricket brings immense joy to its fans, no matter their nationalities. Sadly, the people of Pakistan will be deprived of the opportunity to watch live international cricket in their country for many years to come.
March 4th 2009 @ 10:25pm
mcxd said | March 4th 2009 @ 10:25pm | Report comment
i don’t understand this world.
March 5th 2009 @ 1:11am
challa said | March 5th 2009 @ 1:11am | Report comment
I am sorry but I disagree with almost everyone above. Lets face it he got it wrong. Thats ok.
- But what is not ok, is that those of us who pointed out the possible flaws in his comments were shot down and criticised. I was even accused of being racist for suggesting that Pakistan was an incredibly dangerous place to live.
At worst Henry was naive. But, the reality is that Australians are naive. Off the field, they have been outplayed, outmanoeuvred and outpoliticked in the world of cricket.
They have been bullied and intimidated – smiling and taking it because they kept winning on the field.
Look no further than the sub-continent playing the race card and endlessly homing in on the naive and good nature of Aussies.
Another example – take Shane Warne accepting 10k. The indians could not believe their luck on that one.
No Indian would ever fall for such a blatant and simple honey trap.
Anyway, long live test cricket
March 5th 2009 @ 3:35pm
cosmos forever said | March 5th 2009 @ 3:35pm | Report comment
Yes Westy keep playing, but without some naive notion ‘sport’ is immune from the troubles of the world (just like it hasn’t been immune from things like corruption, drugs etc in the past).