It all happened on Tuesday, the 3rd of March, 2009. Traffic was as
usual at upscale Liberty roundabout of Lahore, the eastern city of
Pakistan. I was coordinating the working of reporters of Samaa TV
office in a building that overlooked the roundabout. Suddenly, I heard
a bang. The first thought struck my mind was that it may be some tyre
burst. But when that bang was followed by firing sounds, I looked
through the windows. To my utter shock, atleast four young men with
rucksacks on their backs were seen firing in various directions. As
the information came in bits in next couple of minutes, it became
clear that the visiting Sri Lankan Cricket team was under attack. Two
cameramen videotaped the attack from the windows of the building as it
was not advisable to go out of the building to shoot the shooting.
The driver of the bus carrying the visitors was able to take
the vehicle out of the danger zone. Couple of Sri Lankan players
including Kumar SangaKara received bullet injuries but all of them
were safe. Police while showing traditional lethargy, showed up at the
crime scene after the 20 minutes firing ceased and the culprits
escaped through the lanes around the Liberty Roundabout after killing 8 persons.
Though the incident lasted for 20 minutes. Pakistan is still facing its
implications. Newzealand cancelled its Pakistan tour scheduled for
December 2009. All the 14 matches of World Cup 2011 earlier scheduled
to be held in Lahore, Karachi and other cities of Pakistan, were
shifted to India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Pakistan had to hold all
the home series against other cricketing nations at neutral venues
like United Arab Emirates. Since then, Pakistan has been able to lure
Kenya A and Zimbabwe to play in Lahore. But the security arrangements
for these match too strict to attract the Pakistani cricket lovers.
Out of this paranoia, Pakistan Super League was recently organized
in Dubai and Sharjah towns of United Arab Emirates. Holding of the
tournament played by the teams of the federal capital and all the
four provincial capitals in foreign lands was not justified as
majority of Pakistanis could not witness the super-charged matches
themselves. Watching matches on TV screens can never be like seeing in
person. International cricket in Pakistan can be revived only by
improving law and order situation and the perception of the country
abroad. Otherwise, the return of international cricket in Pakistan
will remain a distant dream.
