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Business News/ Home-page / Batsmen, bowlers, bullets
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Batsmen, bowlers, bullets

Batsmen, bowlers, bullets

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The terrible attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore can be interpreted as a clash between the two great subcontinental passions— religion and cricket.

Bishen Singh Bedi led an Indian team to Pakistan in October 1978, 18 years after the two nations last met on a cricket field and only a month after Zia-ul Haq took control of Pakistan in a coup. These past 21 years have seen several tours on both sides of the border. The Lahore attack makes us wonder: Are we due for another long break in cricketing ties, given the abysmal security situation in Pakistan?

In a way, the current state of affairs in that country can be linked to the Islamization programme that Zia launched during his regime, even as he sent jihadis into Soviet-occupied Afghanistan.

These 21 years have seen Pakistan become a haven for terror groups and radical Islamists, who often get state support. India has suffered from all this, but has still maintained cricketing ties. We doubt if it still makes sense to send our cricketers into a country where anarchy rules.

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Published: 03 Mar 2009, 11:55 PM IST
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