Being unfair to Pakistan - Inbox at Cricinfo

Blind love for money and disdain for a country at odds with itself and facing enough grief already? Alright, you can go ahead and refuse to tour. There is probably just enough time, difficult and costly though it may be, to move the tournament to Sri Lanka, a much, much safer and more peaceful place to play cricket in, don't you think?

If you had already made up your minds to boycott the event in Pakistan, why on earth did you wait until three weeks before the start to listen to security briefings, only to stubbornly shake your heads and say you have not been convinced? You have caused immense trouble for the ICC, as if the numerous problems it is already encountering were not enough. Geoff Lawson flew down to the Southern Hemisphere for the sake of persuading the Australian and New Zealand cricketers to agree to come, because he lives in Pakistan and he feels safe. He lives in Lahore, one of the largest cities in the country, and possibly very susceptible to attacks of violence and terror.

Is he not Australian? Does he not spend his days without fear in the country you all are so afraid to enter? Terrorism plagues parts of Pakistan, but we are not alone; several other countries experience such situations. Have you forgotten the blasts in London days before the start of the 2005 Ashes? Or the repeated attacks in Sri Lanka? Or the bombs in Jaipur earlier this year, during the IPL? Did you all rush out of India fearing for your lives? No, you stayed and played. The captain of one of the national teams continued to play in the very city it all happened in. What motivated you to continue playing there, but prevents you from coming to Pakistan?

Is it because you are showered with money, or glory, or whatever it is you want, when you take part in such lucrative events, but Pakistan has not much to offer you and the Champions Trophy has little significance for you? I feel you all owe an explanation to the people of Pakistan: why are we being singled out? Why are we the only nation to be treated like this, to be isolated from good competitive cricket, despite the fact that foreign cricketers here are respected and honoured a dozen times more than they are in their own countries?

Pakistan is terribly unfortunate to be caught in this web of political turmoil, a mess not in the slightest being helped by the idea that four countries are refusing to tour for a cricket tournament. The arrogance and disdain with which you view the situation in Pakistan has aggrieved many, many people desperate for some good games of cricket to look forward to, a positive light in a time of darkness and difficulty for our country. Terrorists and suicide attackers do not want to target sporting teams, and with the amount of security being arranged for you it is hard to see what your problem is.

Politics and sports do not mix, as countless influential Pakistanis have repeatedly mentioned. Your lives are by no means being taken lightly; every effort is being made to ensure a risk-free tournament, but it still doesn't seem to be enough to convince you. In truth, your safety cannot be guaranteed anywhere in the world. You, and your families, may well be afraid for your safety, but just take another, less biased, look at the things being done to satisfy you. Some of you feel that the security plans are brilliant but implementing them would be difficult for a country experiencing political trouble. Why, I ask you, would such complex plans be made if they could not be implemented? I'm positive we have the means to arrange everything perfectly, it is just your condescending attitude towards us that makes you feel Pakistan does not have the resources to provide you sufficient security.

Go ahead and say you will not tour, have the Champions Trophy moves to wherever you like, and enjoy playing in that risk-free new environment with the satisfaction that, in the end, you had your way with the ICC.

After all, it hardly matters that because of your stubborn and uncompromising attitude, so many millions of people, who were hopeful of a fortnight of vigorous cricket action in their country, will have their expectations ground into dust. It really doesn't matter, does it, because your problem has been solved. It really makes no difference to you what becomes of cricket in a nation with such a glorious history in the game. It makes no difference at all, in the end, because you are safe. Because you feel safe. And that is the way of this new cricketing world.

I really do sympathise with Pakistan's plight, they need the money and exposure from this tournament badly. But I think you aren't really appreciating the other side of the coin, although I mention that more from the players' point of view than the respective boards.

Pakistan is wracked by a problematic politcal landscape at the moment, particularly with the bad timing of Musharraf's resignation.

'The arrogance and disdain with which you view the situation in Pakistan has aggrieved many'
I don't feel that is fully justified, just because they feel unsafe doesn't mean they are treating Pakistan itself or its cricket with disdain.

I completely understand where you come from on this and I do sympathise from the point of a spectator, I do think the boards are being too conservative here. But keep in mind that the political landscape is, through no fault of the public or the cricket team, slightly undesirable.

Why are you taking the unwillingness of teams to tour pakistan as some sort of personal affront? This piece seems to echo the thoughts of many pakistanis, who overlook the fact that thousands of their counrymen are being murdered every year and instead dwell on the subject as if Australia etc are intentionally trying to insult pakistan.

Your comparison with the London situation is ridiculous and highlights that you are not being at all rational. An isolated incident with a few dozen dead is tragic, but there is no analogy with this and the weekly bombings and thousands of deaths from terrorist attacks as occurs in pakistan. I think you need to debate this issue using a basis of reality, not emotion.

Its also ridiculous to claim that the belief that players may not be able to be protected is condescending. You cannot protect your own politicians and high ranking officials, why should anyone in the west be expected to believe that players can be protected?!

Yeah go ahead, rant all you want but first lets just see what really is upsetting the millions in Pakistan. How many spectators were there for matches in the Asia Cup that did not include Pakistan? How many were there for the Pak Vs HK match? How about attendances for test matches? It would appear that it is not being deprived of cricket that upsets you as much as teams deciding not to visit you. AND WHY NOT?
Forget the safety of the players, how about the inconvenience to Pakistan, a country unable to stop continuous strings of attacks, but going out of its way to host a cricket tournament. That makes no sense. The security arrangements will directly affect the common man in the country, and lets not forget the majority spectators at recent tournaments have been security personnel.
Can someone please tell me how everyone is so sure some nut with a missile launcher will not be able to do huge damage? Munich 73 terrorists mixed sports and politics, what guarantee this will not repeat?

as much as i would like the champions trophy to go ahead in pakistan, i think at this point the best thing is to relocate to sri lanka.

although i think the australians and co are being a bit hypocritical in not touring pakistan but willingly going to neighbouring india which also has frequent terrorist attacks, and sri lanka which has its own problems with the tamil tigers, they obviously dont want to come and they shouldnt be forced.

its sad for pakistani cricket and for pakistani people, but then this is just a reflection of the mess the whole nation is in. if pakistanis are so upset at the impending loss of the champions trophy, then maybe as a country we need to sort out our problems and at the very least protect our citizens from attack. then maybe we can talk about attracting the top teams to pakistan.

pakistan isnt much of a destination to the england, australian players anyway. in fact pakistan has great tourist potential, but we cant market ourselves in that either.

Despite your intention, the attitude and emotions embodied in your posts are adding fuel to the fire and are no less insulting, condescending, or even prejudiced than the object of your claims.

In this sporting day and age, where players are considered ambassadors and put upon such a pedestal, it is hard to forget that after all it is only a game, the players are fearful human beings, and that there is life (the dearest thing of all) outside of it. Do not get me wrong, I am all for the passion this game creates or how it can imitate life (much like art), yet at the end of the day I would not expect anyone to endanger themselves or their family, regardless of how remote the danger, over a game of cricket.

By no means am I excusing the very well possible prejudice within the minds of these cricketers and I do sympathize with you in that regard, however, I disagree with your methods. Tolerance and patience are the key in such matters, as is it just as much our responsibility to

recognize the rights of these crickets as human beings, as much as it is theirs to look past stereotypes and recognize us as human beings as well.

While I do agree that the concept of "perception belying reality" applies to our situation and that the fears of these cricketers might be unreasonably heightened, I also believe that we are deluding ourself with our own perception of normalcy within the country, as well as our belief that cricket and politics are mutually independent. Sport in the last few decades has been repeatedly compromised by politics (The rebel tours and apartheid in South Africa, Beijing Boycotts, and more recently the Zimbabwe situation come to mind). I am sure that our excessive idol worship of these sportsmen (and celebrities) plays a big part in this. They are not merely entertainers anymore but symbols of righteousness for the masses. I digress, but although the Pakistani people might want normalcy, I am not sure whether they need such an illusion.

Nathan and Ajax, I am a Pakistani born US Citizen. I live in the USA but travel to Pakistan frequently. I have never felt myself to be unsafe when I am in Pakistan. Even my kids, who were born and raised in USA and spend all their lives in USA, are always llking forwrad to visiting their extended family in Pakistan. They have never felt threatened. The terrorist attacks in London were specifically targeted against countries/people whao are involved in the war against terror. Therefore, there was a greater likelihood of English/Australian teams being made a target in England because of the lower levels of sceurity provided to cricket teams in those countries. Terrorist attacks in Pakistan are targeted against army, government, politicians etc. not against internastional sportsmen. Most importantly, Pakistan is a frontline state in the war on terror. Pakistan's government, rightly or worngly, is supporting the Western powers wholeheartedly in the war against terror.

Ok first of all, its not all money when I say security arrangements affect the common man, I'm talking about inconveniencing transport, disrupting normal life and unnecessarily deploying thousands of policeman all for the sake of setting up this pseudo safe environment. For what, a cricket tournament? In the last few weeks and months far more serious issues have hit Pakistan, shouldn't those be given higher priority? So you're sick of watching Asian teams, you want Aus, SA, Eng and NZ (just happen to be the four teams that don't want to tour) but what about Test Matches, why are they so poorly attended? The fact is the whole North Western Frontier is lawless, it wouldn't be hard for militants from there to target cricketers for maximum publicity. Finally, I'm not here to sound smart or create a good impression, but I'm also not here to whine about being a teenager who's being picked on. Grow up. The world doesn't hate Pakistan as much you want to think they do.

Maha, i agree to all you said. Being a Pakistani, i can feel the pain. The "danger" is more hypothetical than real. Only a fear mongering freak would try to justify the security threats by the fact that some nut with a missile launcher could still perpetrate some damage. It kind of reflects the mentality of the WEST as a whole: frightful people, who like to make mountain out of a mole and who consider white skin much more valuable then any other color.
My point, however, is that ultimately its Pakistan as a nation where the blame rests. As it is ironically us who second the West in their superior view of a "white life". I wont care if Aussies or South Africans dont visit Pakistan. I would care even less if Kiwis or English dont come as they are unimportant teams anyways and are just trying to build an aura of competency by creating this hype. I care more for the families of innocent people who died in the blasts in Wah.

The Sunday telephone conference only means one thing. The event will be moved somewhere else. But it should not end here.. Pakistan and, if possible, India must boycott it if it happens outside of Pakistan. Furthermore, Pakistan should cancel all their tours to the white countries. After all, the Pakistanis have their pride to consider. The amount of lost revenue does not come into the equation here.
And, Maha, I'm totally with you on this one. I had been making plans to catch the matches at the Pindi stadium, being an Islamabad resident. But then i heard the news that this particular stadium had been removed from the event. And I was like, fine i'll travel to lahore, or even karachi. But i was really really hoping to see some action...
Even if this means the end of pakistan as a cricketing nation, our pride is something which has no price tag. After the decision that the event will be moved, Pakistan should stand firm and declare they're not travelling.

Some of you need to take a good look in the mirror with comments where you refer to the mentality of the west. Say hello to hypocrisy because you are not any better than those stereotyping westerners you speak of. You are not original and neither is your mentality of playing the victim of unfair prejudice. You are rather perpetuating this cycle of hate and intolerance. Blowing up a matter of personal choice regarding safety into a self-righteous discussion about insult to national pride among other things is more making an everest out of a mole hill.

Nash you are taking liberties in your assessment of Westerners and in case you don't remember it us Pakistanis and Indians that value skin color more than the westerners (in fact they want to tan and be brown and us vice versa with our fair and lovely creams). Hate to admit it but we are the more visible culprits when it comes to racism
Maha devote your adolescent angst to more positive means. Your immaturity overshadows any intelligence

I would add in australia's case they havent toured in ages i dont think the situation was bad few years ago as it is now so to speak. I hear no pro aus,sa, nz supporter talk about double standards of players when it concerns bombs going off in india during ipl, but the show went on, cricket was the winner but we must not forget the money that was involved and on top of that player burnout is non existant all of a sudden.this was expected, rationalle is given whether its security issues, political or whatever.the issue was security, pcb obliged with extensive security PLANS not concepts, these player unions are saying nothing will convince them at the final stages leading pcb on for such a long time(very wrong). i think blame must be given to pcb for letting other boards walk over them in the past. pcb should be compensated as good level security was acheivable. maybe pakistan should stop war of terror and tell every1 that it needs to clean house first. allies(no) jus being used(yes)

I agree that Pakistan is not a safe country to visit right now. What I don’t agree with is the reservations/concerns all these players have. Especially after being repeatedly assured by the professional security analysts hired by the ICC that the security arrangements are satisfactory there. Also, after Asia Cup was very recently held successfully and safely. If any one was to put every thing into perspective to analyze how it will work, we will find that the reservations/concerns are nothing but fear of the unseen.
Now imagine that everyone agrees to go to Pakistan to play. The highest level of security will be provided at all times; you wouldn’t be roaming the streets or markets (like you ideally would want to) or to other uncontrollable places. So how do you think you will be targeted? Terrorists are not known to have Fighter Jets or Rocket Launchers; their only weapon is human bomb (suicide bombing). You are being rest assured that the top level of security will be available to y

I originally sent this to Inbox as an article but they haven't published it as yet (how long did they take to publish yours?) so I might as well write it here:
Well here we go again. A reader summons up the guts to defend Pakistan's place in the CT, and in come mails telling her--a resident of Pakistan, mind you, who not only sees the situation everyday but lives it--not to take it personally and reminding her--a resident of Pakistan, mind you--that Pakistan is an unsafe country.
What, I wonder, will it take to convince you people? For the past seven years Pakistan has been taking this sort of treatment at the hands of other boards. First the West Indies' tour was shifted to Sharjah. Understandable, considering it was right in the wake of 9/11 and there was a bit of uncertainty as to safety. Then New Zealand pulled out of an unfinished tour--again understandable, considering the bomb blasts near their hotel. Then, of course, it was Australia's turn, as what were originally supposed

Your frustation is well placed. Frustation however cannot be a smoke screen to hide the reality. It is a fact that PCB has done all it could and thumbs up to them. Presidential security has been promised but the same level of security was not good enough to save Benazir Bhutto. Bombs went off in London and Jaipur, the common thread being the plans were hatched in Pakistan. You say a bomb is a bomb and it can happen anywhere. I agree but the Pakistan government has to do a lot more before the world sees Pakistani people as victims of terrorism rather than the ones breeding them. During the aisa cup the so called Pakistani fans did not bother to come and watch there team play. I ask who would come to watch the current Pakistan team? Are the players missing anything by not playing there? Well no. Theres no Wasim, Waqar or Inzi. So why bother? International players answerable to Pakistani fans? Wake up. This is a professional world.