VVIP SECURITY ASSURED FOR CRICKETERS

Uditha Kumarasinghe and Irangika Range

Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge told Parliament yesterday that the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team was sent to Pakistan due to the firm assurance made by the Pakistan Government that it would provide VVIP security to the cricketers.

Making a special statement soon after the news about the terrorist attack on Sri Lankan players was telecast, Minister Lokuge said the Sri Lankan High Commission in Karachi had also re-assured about the security provided by the Pakistan Government to the Sri Lankan team.

The Minister said the Pakistan Government had pledged to provide VVIP security to the Sri Lankan team and this had been checked by the Sri Lankan High Commission.

The High Commission had informed the Sri Lankan Government and the Foreign Ministry that even if the threat perception was there, the team could engage in the tour.

The Minister said the decision on the Pakistan tour was made by the former Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket and the decision was right.

In many previous occasions when other nations had refused to play in Sri Lanka citing security reasons, Pakistan had come to Sri Lanka’s rescue. Therefore the decision to tour Pakistan was right, he said.

UPFA MP Arjuna Ranatunga said the invitation was made by the Pakistan Cricket Board when he was the chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket.

“Many Western nations have their own agendas in cricket.

But South Asian teams and nations have always acted in support of each other.

The Pakistan authorities had pledged to provide special security to the Sri Lankan cricket team similar to the security provided to Presidents and Prime Ministers,” he said.

When other cricket playing countries refused to select Sri Lanka as one of the venues of the 1996 World Cup due to security reasons, a joint team of players from Pakistan and India came to play in Sri Lanka to allay fears, Ranatunga said.

“There is an opportunity for a South Asian nation to host the 2011 World Cup tournament. But the Western nations will try to grab that opportunity due to incidents of this nature”.