The Pakistan Question

As the Indian cricket team resumes business in relatively familiar conditions against ever-so-familiar opposition in a fairly meaningless bi-lateral one-day series, the real question to ponder  is not a cricketing one. It isn’t about India’s wafer-thin bowling reserves or about finding viable middle-order replacements once Sachin decides to ride off into the sunset. The mind can’t help overlook the current Sri Lankan jaunt, the home test series against the Kiwis or even the impending T20 World cup.

I, for one, find it hard to stop thinking about the decision to revive cricketing ties against Pakistan towards the end of the year. It is extraordinary that I, for once, find myself on the same side of any issue as Sunil Gavaskar, who recently spoke against the decision to host Pakistan when the probe into the 26/11 terror attacks drags on. Any mention of the India-Pakistan series makes the mind wander back to that ghastly evening when a group of militants opened fire on Mumbai. It was the act of extreme cowardice by a few individuals so brainwashed by hatred that it’s hard to think of them as human beings. No matter how much they try to deny it, all links point back to the higher echelons of power in Islamabad.

Every few months, the guiltless face of one Kasab keeps doing the rounds on social media as a constant reminder of the incompetence of India’s judiciary system. The television and press in India are always happy to play the instigators, doling out one senseless story after another in a bid to milk the unholy cow to its full extent. However, the fact of the matter remains that we are closing in on four years of the incident and are nowhere close to getting to the bottom of the matter. The cricket romantic in me yearns to see Sehwag take strike against Umar Gul, but to play a game of cricket while the investigation continues seems insensitive not only to the people who lost dear ones during that dark day, but to the entire nation as a whole.

Those in favor of the cricket talk about a separation of cricket and politics – certainly a noble ideal and one that’s worth striving for, but impractical in the real world. In that sort of world, we’d have a clear divide between the metaphorical Church and State and civilians would be kept out of battles between nations. However, we do not live in that world and it would be nothing but extreme naïveté to believe otherwise. The minute those terrorists crossed the Rubicon into a decidedly civilian world and committed those atrocities, those lines have been blurred forever.

I too have read Rahul Bhattacharya’s heartwarming memoirs from India’s 2003 tour to Pakistan and would very much like to see real peace in the truest sense of the term prevail between the embattled nations in my lifetime, and there are enough people on both sides of the border who share this sentiment. However, a pattern has emerged over the last few decades where an incident sparks fury, resentment and continued hostilities until both sides, in an act of selective amnesia dawdle into an uncomfortable peace, only for this entire cycle to repeat itself. You thought it was going to be different this time. The last incident provoked so much strong emotion all over the world that there was genuine hope that something real would be done about it but as the fourth anniversary of the tragedy beckons, we find ourselves back at square one.

I certainly don’t have the Silver Bullet solution to this problem (and the solution must not involve bullets of any sort), but the act of falling back into the familiar pattern of peace-war-peace hardly seems ideal. The first step towards solving any problem, small or big, is the acceptance that one exists. Resuming cricket or cultural ties of any sort would be turning a blind eye to the problem and pretending that it will go away on its own. Refusing the Pakistan cricket board in its current state of debt and turmoil would serve not only as a firm political stance, but also as a form of economic sanction. However, Indian cricket officials have time and again shown themselves to be greedy, short-sighted and opportunistic and expecting any action that would deny them a chance to fill up their coffers (and their pockets) would be delusional.

I’ll try and end this on a happier note. This could be the defining season for Virat Kohli who seems determined to carve out a path for himself in Indian cricket. Here’s also wishing Yuvraj Singh a happy and speedy way back to playing the sport he loves. May the season begin!