A letter from Pakistan
My feelings regarding the cowardly terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan
Cricket team are ineffable. I am at a loss of words to express my anger,
grief and sorrow over what happened in Lahore on the morning of March 3.
At a time when all the teams had refused to come to Pakistan due to
security fears, it was Sri Lanka's players who had the courage and
goodwill to tour despite the threats to their lives. For this great act
of valour and bravery, the Pakistani people cannot thank the Sri Lankan
team enough. We have every reason to be thankful to the Sri Lankan team.
I speak for the whole nation when I say that how ashamed we the
Pakistanis are for failing to protect our guests. The failure is ours.
This is no justification but the Sri Lankan team should know that the
lives of ordinary Pakistanis are far more vulnerable then theirs. The
failure is not on the part of the people but the Government which should
have provided impregnable security to the Sri Lankans. On the same note,
I think Sri Lanka as a nation knows how difficult it is to overt such an
attack by our police who are not trained or equipped for such a lethal
ambush. The only thing the police who were outnumbered could do was to
offer the supreme sacrifice of their lives to protect their Sri Lankan
brethren which they did and the team bus was able to reach Gaddafi
Stadium. I salute those brave policemen who embraced martyrdom while
saving the cricket team.
I was looking forward to seeing the likes of Muralitharan, Mendis and
other stars. Sadly, it was not to be. I thank god that all the team
members reached home safe. As for Pakistan cricket, I think the Lahore
attack was its death. We should not expect too much cricket or stars, at
least for a decade now. The terrorists have attacked our way of lives,
our culture and our sport, and as much as I hate to say it, they seem to
be winning right now. Again, we remain indebted to the Sri Lankan team
for visiting Pakistan when our neighbours tried to isolate us and our
heads hang in shame at the performance of our Government. Please do
forgive the people of Pakistan as it was none of their doing.
Mohammad Zohair
Rawalpindi
[email protected]
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