Amidst the ongoing Bangladesh cricket team’s tour to Pakistan for a bilateral series, the terrorist country of Pakistan continues getting derided for the safety scare that looks large over it.
Recently, Left-arm Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who is a part of the visiting Bangladeshi cricket squad had tweeted, “Heading to Pakistan. Remember us in your prayers.”
Heading to Pakistan. Remember us in your prayers. #PAKvBAN pic.twitter.com/7l85XfFUWM
— Mustafizur Rahman (@Mustafiz90) January 22, 2020
The hilarious tweet by the Bangladeshi pacer obviously went viral, and Pakistan, for reasons that need no emphasis, became a subject of ridicule once again.
While the remarks of Mustafizur were seen as hilarious, his fears are not a mere figment of imagination. The first T20I between Pakistan and Bangladesh was held on Friday at the infamous Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore.
In the context of cricket, Lahore is reminiscent of the 2009 terror attack on Sri Lankan cricketers. In this shocking terror attack, a bus carrying Lankan cricketers was attacked by 12 terrorists on its way to Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The ferocious attack had resulted in injuries to 6 Sri Lankan cricketer, 2 staff and 1 reserve umpire. It also resulted in the death of 6 policemen and 2 civilians.
It is Pakistan’s not so good safety track record that had also led to several Bangladeshi cricketers and team withdrawing their names ahead of the 3-match T20I series between the two countries.
Now, it seems that Mustafizur Rahman wasn’t wrong after all. While Pakistanis and PCB went overboard in celebrating the fact that Pakistan had managed to ensure the safe arrival of Bangladesh cricket team (a monumental achievement for the terrorist country), Twitter users from the country have exposed the murky reality of Pakistan’s internal circumstances.
The massive security scare in Lahore seems to have forced the authorities to thrust a shutdown. One of the Twitter users said, “What kind of match is this when whole of the #lahore is blocked. Its better not to have match rather than giving agony and pain to this nation. BIG SHAME. No one managing the routes. If this was the case then u should have given holiday. Wapas tumhara baap le ke jae ga?”
Other Twitter users too argued that it was a T20I match and not an ODI. Therefore, even the option of attending the second innings was ruled out for the spectators amid the massive lock-down.
Twitter users also revealed that the cricket stadium remained empty. Just imagine a T20I between two cricket-crazy nations with an empty stadium. This reveals the gravity of the security threat Pakistan continues to face and its inability to manage it.
https://twitter.com/drmaliraza/status/1220631713325494272
Shame on you Lahore !! Its a T20 not an ODI that you'll go to the stadium in the second innings !! #PakvsBan
— andrew tain. (@sibtain_asif) January 24, 2020
https://twitter.com/Sarkaar__/status/1220661770970390533
Kon jay itnay filters se guzar kr :p
— ᗩRIF 山𝐀Ħ𝑒𝑒ᗪ (@ArifWaheed18) January 24, 2020
The Lahore match and the shutdown that essentially followed it, is something that all cricket boards must keep in mind. Pakistan remains the breeding ground and state sponsor of some of the world’s deadliest terrorists and it is not really worth risking the safety of innocent athletes for a bilateral/multilateral tournament in the Islamic Republic.
