Kolkata: Should there be a bilateral series between India and Pakistan on the cricket field? Well, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been harping on the fact that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reneged on the MoU. Fair enough, the Indian government has been firm on its stance, not clearing the way for a bilateral series and its actions are justified. Nothing comes before the security of the nation and when India ‘boasts’ a neighbour like Pakistan which has a one-point agenda of fomenting trouble on its soil, then the BCCI does no wrong.
No matter what former Pakistan skipper Javed Miandad says, the tension only simmers and when our jawans face danger protecting our country, it would be a cardinal sin on our part to expect Virat Kohli and Misbah-ul-Haq to go out for the toss. “They just want to play around with us as always. They are least interested in playing us in a bilateral series,” Miandad was quoted. To challenge him, here’s a man who has close relations with a fugitive called Dawood Ibrahim who has created mayhem on the Indian soil. What is the basis on which Miandad makes such statements? There is no way that India can think of shaking hands with cricketers of a country that instigates anti-Indian feelings.
There have been media reports that the BCCI has sought the permission of the Union Home Ministry to resume bilateral cricketing ties with Pakistan. How far these stories are true remain to be questioned, but at a time when Islamabad is hell bent on stubbornness vis-à-vis its relations with India, resumption of sporting ties would just be a joke.
What has Pakistan done to normalise relations with India? To put it aptly, it has done nothing. On the contrary, it teams up with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to denigrate India and heaps allegations of human rights violations on the country. Pakistan plans to create a fifth province out of Gilgit-Baltistan, a territory that remains a part of the undivided Jammu & Kashmir. Pakistan goes aggressive on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) antagonising India.
Politically and diplomatically, India and Pakistan are at loggerheads. There are too many problems to be sorted out including the logjam over the Indus Waters Treaty. With so much of consternation between the two countries, resumption of bilateral cricketing ties looks bleak.
So, Javed Mian, stop blaming India! You have links with a criminal, it’s better you refrain from commenting on delicate issues. India does not hold you in high esteem. And you jolly well know why! Khuda Hafiz!