Development Paths (Part One)

by Satish Sekar

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Atrocities:

Despite a nasty civil war in Sri Lanka and terrorist attacks in Pakistan and India – England too – cricket still preserved its innocence. It had never been directly attacked. The Central Bank in Colombo was attacked on January 31st 1996 by the Tamil Tigers. While cricket was not the direct target, the timing and demands were no coincidence.

Velupillai Prabhakaran – dictatorial leader of the Tigers – warned tourists to stay away from Sri Lanka. Cricket’s 50-overs per side World Cup was just a month away and Sri Lanka – a Test Match playing nation for just fifteen years – was due to co-host the tournament with India and Pakistan, both of whom rallied round the country and its cricket when most needed.

The Sri Lankans never forgot this support, especially from the Pakistanis. India had played regional superpower until its peace-keeping effort failed and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber while campaigning in Tamil Nadu in 1990. India never forgot nor forgave the insult. From then on the Tigers were hated in India and their government’s policy towards Sri Lanka changed drastically.

The Mumbai attacks – a co-ordinated series of bombings and shootings throughout the city - took place on November 26th-29th 2008. 173 people died and a further 308 were hurt. Only one attacker survived. He eventually disclosed that the terrorists were members of the Pakistani organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba – a group denounced by many countries as thugs.

After a month of denying any Pakistani involvement the Pakistani Interior Ministry accepted that the attackers were Pakistanis. Of thirty-seven accused of involvement in the attacks and planning them, only two were found not to have hailed from Pakistan. The Indian government believed that the Pakistani authorities had not co-operated fully with their investigation.

 

Only one of the ten attackers, Ajmal Kasab survived. He was tried on charges of murder, conspiracy to murder and waging war on India. In May – a year after the trial process began – Kasab was sentenced to death. The judge said that there was no chance of rehabilitation.

England’s cricketers had been in Mumbai  during the attacks, but flew home afterwards. However, following improved security provisions they returned in December to play two Test Matches and contributed to the relief effort. Their solidarity was greatly appreciated. It was also argued that the terrorists could not be allowed to win.

The Indian team’s scheduled tour of Pakistan was cancelled, partly in protest at the lack of co-operation. If India had toured and been the victims of the outrage in Lahore on March 3rd 2009 the consequences would have been horrendous. Five years earlier Lashkar-e-Taiba issued a fatwa against cricket – absurdly claiming that the sport was against Islam. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed that the Lahore attack had been carried out by the Tamil Tigers.

 

Lahore and its Aftermath:

Sri Lanka stepped in at the last minute and toured Pakistan. Mahela Jayawardene stepped down as captain during the tour and Kumar Sangakkara took over. Thilan Samaraweera was in sparkling form, having hit consecutive double-centuries. Younis Khan joined the triple-centurion club, but terrorists planned to rob Pakistan of cricket by targeting the national sport.

 

On March 3rd 2009 they attacked the bus carrying the Sri Lankan team to the Gaddafi Stadium for the third day of the Test Match. The attack left 8 people dead and several more wounded, including seven Sri Lankan players. The in-form Samaraweera was one of them. Those fit to travel returned home to a civil war about to enter its final phase.

 

Who would have predicted that Sri Lanka would conquer its terrorist menace within three months of the Lahore atrocity? But it happened. Meanwhile the supposedly ‘Presidential-style’ security was slammed by the umpires and officials and Sri Lankan players. The sport’s leading wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan described it as the worst he had ever seen.

 

Chris Broad and Australian umpire Simon Taufel accused security personnel of abandoning them to their fate. However, Mehar Mohammed Khalil – the driver whose courage saved the Sri Lankan team - was hailed as a hero in both Pakistan and Sri Lanka. He was later honoured in Sri Lanka. Jayawardene said that he owed his life to Khalil

 

A month later the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that international cricket was suspended in Pakistan for the foreseeable future – an understandable reaction to the attack. New Zealand and Bangladesh cancelled scheduled tours. No team would tour, improved security or not. It would take a long time to heal these wounds and persuade other countries to tour again.

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